The End is Just the Beginning
by zokaizane
Summary: [SEQUEL]After nearly a year of training, Reborn has accomplished what he swore to do. However, he's conflicted whether to stay with the famiglia or to search for the one person he loved, until one day he finds her again in Tokyo. 9 yrs later, Tsunade is the 2nd greatest hitman, just after her tutor Reborn. Will she learn what a hitman is prohibited to? Or will she fall once again?
1. Prologue Part 1

**A/N: WHOOHOO! Here it is! Just in time for Christmas too! For those who didn't bother to read the description, I will hope you read the author's note and say now that _THIS IS A SEQUEL. _If you haven't read the first one yet, I would suggest you click on the link below and read it first before continuing to this one. If you are one of my continuing readers, let me just say now THANK YOU SO MUCH for your loyalty and patience! You guys are who make writing fun for me!**

**Here's the link to my first story: s/9406806/1/The-Start**

**Here's the disclaimer: If I owned KHR, there would be A LOT more Adult Reborn. A. WHOLE. LOT. But there isn't so logically, I don't own it.**

**Without further ado, I present to you, my Christmas present to you all, my new story, 'The End is just the Beginning'.**

* * *

In a town somewhere in Japan, Sawada Tsunayoshi, the 14-year old mafia boss of the infamous Vongola Famiglia, slammed his head down on his desk, sending a flurry of papers flying into the air. Tsuna groaned and got up to pick the papers off the ground.

"Now I know why oji-san wanted me to take over as soon as possible," he grumbled, "If I knew so much paperwork was involved, I would've never given in."

After another 4 months of being trained to be 'Neo Vongola Primo', Tsuna finally relented and agreed take over as head of the famiglia. Though he was reluctant, he felt better about his decision than he had toying with the idea in the past. At the official ceremony naming Tsuna the Vongola Decimo (or Neo Vongola Primo, whichever one the famiglia members preferred), he saw all his friends and family (Tsuna eventually had to tell Nana the truth, who, unsurprisingly, just smiled happily and said she would support him in whatever he wanted to do as long as he visited from time to time) cheering for him, and he felt much more secure in leading a major criminal organization with his guardians and supporters at his side.

Unfortunately, no one had warned him about the immense pile of paperwork that came with the job, and with his own homework that he was still barely finishing, he was becoming well-acquainted with coffee and all-nighters.

Tsuna stared desolately at the stack of papers on his desk.

'_At least I now have friends willing to help me with both studying and paperwork,' _thought Tsuna, '_Sadly, most of the paperwork has to go directly to the Vongola Decimo for approval, and I'm still not much better at school than I was before this madness.'_

Sighing, he picked the most current report and read it. The Bovino Famiglia just joined the Vongola Famiglia Grand Alliance, thanks to Lambo's 'influence' (Lambo probably just whined and cried until they gave in). Now, the alliance was composed of the Vongola, Bovino, Simon, Millefiore (thank goodness Byakuran had a change of heart), Giglio Nero, Chiavarone, and other minor Famiglias. Though that seemed to be a lot, Tsuna knew he still had a long way to go before he could properly unite all famiglias under one cause. It had been pretty hard to get the famiglias to even consider the alliance. Though many famiglias had secret agreements with each other, openly declaring their bonds wasn't very common. The Simon and Chiavarone famiglias had agreed almost instantaneously because of Dino and Enma's connection with Tsuna, but they would've lost the Bovino Famiglia if it weren't for Lambo.

Tsuna leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. _'Why am I doing this again?' _he wondered, trying to remember why he decided to take on this huge responsibility when he could barely take care of himself. Then it hit him, and he reopened his eyes, filled with determination again. _'Oh yeah, I'm doing it to right all the wrongs committed by the mafia in the past.'_

He learned from Giotto that the Vongola Famiglia was formed to protect the people. However, the famiglia had slowly become corrupted by the influence of the other famiglias, creating a bloody history full of sins and crimes. Tsuna had said he would rather destroy the Vongola rather than accept their sins, which prompted Vongola Primo to accept Tsuna as the successor of the Vongola. Now that he had officially accepted his post, he was determined to restore the mafia to its former reputation as an organization who dealt justice to those the law couldn't convict.

For some reason, thinking about his goal made a sudden pain burst through his head. Tsuna dropped the paper he was holding and clutched his head, yelping in pain. It lasted for another brief second, then, it was gone, leaving behind a sense of memory loss, as if he were forgetting something important.

'_This has been happening more and more lately,' _he thought, gently massaging his temples, '_I should probably consult Shamal about it, but knowing him, he'd probably just shrug me off and insist I send more female patients to him.'_

Tsuna shook his head to dispel the last remaining remnants of the migraine and picked up the next letter. Seeing it was from Shamal, he blinked for a few seconds in surprise before he remembered that he had contacted him a while ago concerning a certain Mafioso.

"About time he got back to me," muttered Tsuna. He carefully (well, as carefully, as a clumsy teen like him could be) opened the letter and read the four words on the paper.

'**Send him to Tokyo.'**

Sighing, Tsuna put down the letter and rubbed his eyes. '_As if I didn't know that already,' _he thought. Tsuna looked at the spot where the infamous hitman tutor Reborn usually slept. Today the spot was empty, which explained why he wasn't being held at gunpoint as Reborn oversaw his work. After the Arcobaleno curse was lifted, Reborn seemed to be as sadistic as ever, until they went on a training trip to Tokyo.

* * *

"_I feel so tired," Tsuna moaned as he and his guardians slowly dragged themselves over to the train station. Reborn had refused to allow them to take any form of transportation around the city except for the train that would take them home. This wouldn't have been that bad if Reborn hadn't thrown them off a helicopter onto a mountain he insisted was somewhere near Tokyo. On top of that, Reborn had sprayed them with a special chemical (courtesy of Leon) that attracted any type of wildlife within a 2-mile radius._

_After several hours of running from killer animals (some of which Tsuna wasn't even aware that they existed) with Reborn popping up every once in a while to make their training harder (he even trapped them in a mile deep cavern full of poisonous snakes, though this wasn't that difficult now that the guardians were properly trained), they finally got out of the mountain thanks to Tsuna, who used his Hyper Dying Will flames to fly above the tree line and find the way down. Once they got out, it only took them another few hours to find the way to the city and run all the way there._

"_Juudaime!" exclaimed Gokudera, extremely worried, "Are you going to be ok?"_

_Before Tsuna could answer, Ryohei came and slapped him on the back, causing him to fall face-flat onto the ground."_

"_Of course he's ok!" roared Ryohei as Tsuna picked himself off the ground, "That was extreme training TO THE EXTREME!"_

"_Why'd you knock over the Juudaime, Turf-top?!" yelled Gokudera, suddenly furious._

"_What did you just call me, Octopus-head?!" challenged Ryohei, equally mad._

_Sparks were flying between the two and Tsuna trying to put together a solution, when Yamamoto showed up._

"_Maa, maa," said Yamamoto, raising his hands up in a calming gesture, "Calm down guys."_

_He walked over to Tsuna and handed him a water bottle._

"_I bought a few from the vendor over there," said Yamato, pointing at a stand nearby, "I thought we would need some water after that exercise."_

_Tsuna accepted the water gratefully. Yamamoto had finally accepted the fact that the 'mafia game' wasn't really a game, though he still treated the gruesome training as a fun activity._

_Yamamoto passed out two other water bottles to Ryohei (who thanked him 'to the extreme') and Gokudera (who accepted it reluctantly while muttering something about 'baseball idiots' and 'stealing the Juudaime'). Tsuna was took a sip of water—which he promptly spit out when a certain cow-print wearing infant tackled his head._

"_Oi, Dame-Tsuna!" shouted Lambo, "I want some water too!"_

"_You can't call the Juudaime that!" yelled Gokudera, riled up again._

"_I can call him whatever I want, Baka-dera!" replied Lambo defiantly._

_The two begun bickering loudly, and Tsuna could only sigh as Yamamoto tried to placate Lambo with another water bottle and as Ryohei began to yell that they should start running 'to the extreme.' _

"_Looks like they're up to their usual antics," said a voice next to Tsuna. Tsuna's head snapped to the side in shock, and upon seeing Chrome's smiling face, he relaxed and patted her head._

"_Your illusions are getting much better," he said in admiration, "I couldn't even tell you were nearby. Mukuro must be pretty proud of you."_

"_Yep, I sure am," said Mukuro, who suddenly replaced Chrome. Tsuna quickly withdrew his hand and recoiled in shock, causing Mukuro to laugh. "Though hers are not quite as great as mine just yet."_

_Tsuna stared at Mukuro in exasperation. "Where's Chrome?" he asked wearily, "I thought you guys were taking a different route."_

"_Oh, we did," said Mukuro, "She's already at the train station, getting us tickets for the next train. I would hurry if I were you; the next train is due in half an hour."_

_Before Tsuna could reply, he felt waves of killing intent radiating off someone behind him. Apparently everyone else felt it too because they had abruptly shut up and turned around to face the raven-haired head of the Namimori Middle's Disciplinary Committee who had his sharp, gray eyes fixed on Mukuro._

"_You," growled Hibari, "You, I will bite you to death!"_

_Hibari began advancing on Mukuro, brimming with hostility. Mukuro only smirked and began walking backwards, facing him head on. Remembering Hibari's hatred of crowds and his tendency to severely injure anyone in his way, everyone else began backing away. Suddenly, Hibari began running, causing a chain reaction where everyone suddenly found an extra burst of energy and started sprinting to the train station, trying to avoid Hibari's rage. _

_Unfortunately, Tsuna, being the extremely unlucky person he was, just happened to be the person who Hibari decided to use as a launch pad._

_Groaning, he peeled himself off the floor again. "This is why I wanted you to find an alternate route, Mukuro," he muttered, "Last time you two fought we almost fell off a cliff on the mountain."_

_Tsuna dusted himself off and stared at the retreating backs of his guardians fondly. Though they still drove him crazy and bickered all the time, he could tell they were warming up to each other. Gokudera and Ryohei's arguments were more good-natured, Lambo and Gokudera now seemed to be bickering as siblings rather than actual enemies, Gokudera now regarded Yamamoto as a __very __annoying friend, and Mukuro and Hibari could at least tolerate each other for a while during their training sessions. He turned to tell Reborn this, but then he noticed the spot by his side where his hitman tutor usually stood was empty. It was then when he realized that they hadn't seen Reborn since they entered the city. Tsuna was about to shout to his guardians to ask if they knew where he was, when he felt his arm being twisted behind his back and a foot shoving him down onto to the floor._

"_Ciaossu," said Reborn calmly, "I see your senses and reflexes are still as bad as ever, Dame-Tsuna."_

_Reborn released Tsuna and Tsuna picked himself up for the third time in five minutes. He looked back at his now 6 year-old tutor. After the curse was lifted, the Arcobaleno found that while they did grow up, they did it at irregular intervals, sometimes growing a whole year in the span of a few weeks. Though Tsuna was grateful that Reborn would return to his original form soon, it was pretty disconcerting to say good night to a 3 year-old, and wake up from a hit on the head from a 5 year-old. Also, it was hard to adjust to Reborn's constantly changing appearances._

"_Where were you?" asked Tsuna._

"_That's none of your concern," replied Reborn shortly._

_It was then that Tsuna noticed something strange. A couple months ago, while Reborn was asleep, Tsuna was up doing his homework. Confused on a problem, he turned to ask Reborn. That's when he noticed a glint of gold, carefully hidden under the chain the fake pacifier hung. He realized it was a thin gold chain used in jewelry. Before he could take a closer look, he got whacked in the head by the Reverse One Ton Mallet and Reborn was scolding him for slacking off. Ever since then, Tsuna couldn't help but notice the small shine produced by the golden chain._

_However, today, there was no glint. The chain was gone. _

_Tsuna had developed a bond of friendship with Reborn, despite getting beat up by him so many times. Just as Reborn somehow seemed to always know what he was thinking, Tsuna was a pretty accurate judge of how Reborn was feeling. Though he seemed as detached and apathetic as usual, Tsuna could tell Reborn was feeling something else underneath his façade._

"_Reborn, are you…feeling alright?" asked Tsuna hesitantly._

"_Of course I am," said Reborn irritably, "There's no reason why I wouldn't be."_

_Still, Tsuna didn't quite believe Reborn. "Are you su—"_

"_I told you I'm fine!" snapped Reborn, pointing his Leon-gun at Tsuna in a sudden burst of anger. Tsuna held his hands in the air in surrender, and Reborn seemed to calm down._

"_Now that you understand what 'I'm fine' means," he said, "Let's see how fast you can run to catch the train, it's leaving soon." _

_With that, Leon changed into a mallet and Reborn began swinging at Tsuna. With his signature 'HIEEEEEE!', Tsuna ran as fast as he could towards the train station. However, even as he was running, he kept thinking about Reborn's reaction. 'The only other time he had reacted so strangely was when the last Arcobaleno pacifier was revealed, and when I insisted on fighting for him,' thought Tsuna as he narrowly dodged the mallet, 'These events all relate directly to his past, which leads me to wonder,_

_What happened in Tokyo?'_

* * *

Tsuna looked over at the empty spot where Reborn usually slept again. Ever since that trip, he could tell something was amiss with Reborn. He had been looking for an excuse to send Reborn back to Tokyo, to get some hint of what was troubling him, but he never got the chance until the Southern Japanese YakuzaFaction started acting up. It was slightly ironic that out of all places where Tsuna couldn't control, it was in his home country. However, coincidently, their base of operations was in Tokyo, and sending Reborn to take care of them was the logical choice.

He hoped that this trip to Tokyo would clear Reborn's head because when it came down to it, Tsuna trusted Reborn with his life.

Deciding he had taken too long of a break, Tsuna sighed and turned to his math homework. Upon seeing the first problem, he slammed his head onto his desk again, causing the coffee to spill all over him. He jumped up and began hopping around the room in pain. It wasn't long until he stubbed his foot against the bed post and he fell—right into a giant pile of papers.

Tsuna moaned. '_Why does this keep happening to me?' _he thought miserably.

* * *

**Meanwhile, in Tokyo…**

Reborn sighed in annoyance as yet another police cruiser passed by, forcing him to hide behind another garbage can.

"Damn Southern Yakuza, stirring up trouble," he muttered, "Why couldn't they just agree to the alliance, just like the Northern faction did?"

He stood up and stretched his aching legs before running in the direction of the train station. Growing at an accelerated rate has caused the growing pains to increase ten-fold. Though handling the pain wasn't a problem (after all, he was a hitman, pain was in the job description.), it was pretty troublesome to have his legs and arms cramp up whenever he made a sudden movement. Also, continuous growing meant that he constantly had to reorder his suits and disguises—and those didn't come cheap. All in all, he kind of missed the days when he was just an infant, though he would never admit it. Being 2 years-old made enemies underestimate him, something they all regretted later. He could easily slip in and out of crowds, and no one would dare try to take something from a little kid, even a 'toy' gun. Now, though he was still too young for anyone to take him seriously, people said he was 'too old' to be 'playing games' anymore, prompting many authority figures to attempt to take his weapons. Because of this, Reborn could only take Leon with him most of the time he was travelling.

Not to mention the fact that when he was younger, his hippocampus was less developed, inhibiting his memories.

Reborn thought back to a conversation he had with Shamal:

"_Although you retained your intelligence and memories when you became an Arcobaleno," said Shamal, "Your body, including your brain, still shrunk to those of a two year-old. This means it'll be harder to remember things, but easier to forget them as well. Once your brain begins redeveloping, you'll find yourself remembering more and more, including things you don't want to._

Reborn knew exactly what Shamal was implying, and unfortunately, he was right. Ever since the curse was broken, he began having recurring nightmares about the night when he lost what mattered to him the most,

The night he lost Tsunade.

It would always start out with her dead body lying on the floor before slowly transitioning to him kneeling at his grave. However, recently, the dreams had changed a bit. Instead of kneeling at her grave, he would be standing several feet away from it. Standing directly next to the grave, which, for some reason, was an empty ditch, would be Tsunade herself, looking exactly the same as he remembered her. She would look directly at him for a while, and although Reborn wanted to run to her, to hold her in his arms, to tell her how sorry he was, he wouldn't be able to move, frozen to his spot. Then, without warning, she would step into the ditch and fall, fall into the ground where she was buried. It was then when Reborn could finally move, and he would run to the grave, his mouth open in a silent scream. Though this was usually the point where Reborn would wake up, breathing heavily, the training trip changed things a bit. As he watched Tsunade fall deep into the dark abyss, he noticed her eyes would turn a brilliant green, and her body would seem to shrink. This confused Reborn greatly, and his disturbance hadn't gone unnoticed.

Reborn let out an exasperated sigh as he thought of Tsuna's concern. Though he knew his no-good student wasn't to blame, the waves of worry that were practically radiating off him were irritating. He even went as far as to send him on a mission to Tokyo. Although the threat of the Southern Yakuza was very real, Reborn still thought it really didn't have to be him.

* * *

Of course, it was slightly his fault too. He had visited Tsunade's grave biannually every year since her death, once on the day of her death to clean the grave, and once on her birthday just to check on it. The year he started tutoring Tsuna was the first that he didn't follow his routine, and after missing the day of her death, he was becoming a bit…twitchy. Finally, when Tsuna and his guardians went to train in Tokyo, he could no longer resist the urge anymore and he went back to the graveyard. The black marble stone seemed to glare at him as he stood there, forcing him to feel the feelings he desperately wanted to forget, and yet couldn't. Soon, quite a few hours had passed, and Reborn realized that he better catch up to the rest of the group. He was about to leave, but something nagged at him. After a moment of hesitation, he unclasped the necklace he had kept with him all these years, concealed by the fake pacifier, and placed it next to the tombstone along with an advanced illusion machine that he had 'borrowed' from Verde. Reborn was confident that no one would be able to see the illusions unless they, like him, could see the false aura that surrounded all illusions, no matter how genuine they looked. Satisfied that no one could see the black rose pendant, he left to catch up to dame-Tsuna and the others.

Since then, his behavior had been a little off, even he himself admitted that. Tsuna had undoubtedly noticed, and maybe he even contacted Shamal about it, knowing that he was the one Reborn asked to erase his past. In the end, they both probably decided to send him to the place where his nightmares began in order for him to either bury down his past further, or to come to terms with it.

Reborn couldn't deny it: he was terribly conflicted. Before he came to tutor Tsuna, he had sworn to search for Tsunade after he was finished. However, after all the trials and challenges he had watched and helped Tsuna and his guardians overcome, he had come to develop a sense of friendship and loyalty towards the Vongola Decimo, and there was no way he could leave his no-good student to lead the Vongola just yet. Now, he was faced with a difficult choice,

Search for the love of his life, or continue to do what he had come to love.

* * *

Reborn stopped running and found that he, once again, was standing in front of the graveyard. He couldn't resist the pull that was tempting him, and he walked into it, towards the grave that held Tsunade. However, as he approached the grave, he realized he wasn't alone. Someone was slowly reaching for the tombstone, slender fingers creeping towards the necklace that laid there. Reborn felt a burst of fury.

'_How did I not notice a thief?' _he thought angrily, '_I should've been aware of his aura the moment I entered the graveyard. More importantly, how was he able to see the necklace?'_

Reborn silently jumped forward and grabbed the thief's wrist, causing the thief to gasp in surprise. It was then that Reborn realized that the thief was actually a girl, no more than ten, and that her aura felt oddly familiar. He dropped the barriers that he had placed on his level of awareness and stared in shock at the honey-golden shroud that surrounded, streaked with light gold and black—the opposite of the green and white streaks in Tsuna's aura. If her aura didn't convince Reborn of her identity, than the sliver of moonlight that revealed her appearance did. Her hair, though messy and matted with dirt, was light brown in color and overall very straight, and her eyes that shone with the intelligence she possessed were a deep emerald green in color.

Reborn was speechless for a few moments before he was able to whisper in disbelief,

"Tsunade?"

* * *

**A/N: Another cliffhanger huh? You shouldn't be very surprised xD. Ironically, just like my first story, since this first chapter was super long, the next will probably be pretty short. When will it come out? Eh, idk, it just really depends whether I feel like typing or not :P**

**READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!**


	2. Prologue Part 2

**A/N: Yep, another chapter so soon. This one is still pretty long, unfortunately, because I didn't want to leave you all with **_**too**_** great of a cliffhanger at the end. Anyway, I forgot to mention that the first three chapters are part of a grand prologue. It was going to only be two parts long, but my over-writing/rambling skills are too strong, and this chapter would've become too long. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Tsunade?"

Just as Reborn whispered the name, the girl yelped in pain and clutched her head, squeezing her eyes tightly closed. Worried, Reborn wrapped his other arm around her shoulders to keep her from collapsing.

'_She's so skinny,' _he thought.

"Are you ok?" he asked, concerned.

The girl kept her eyes shut for another moment, then, she opened them and shook off Reborn's arm violently, emerald orbs glinting with anger and suspicion.

"I'm fine," she said stiffly, "It was just a migraine. More importantly, who are you? How do you know my name?"

Before Reborn could answer, Tsunade's eyes widened as she thought of something, and she began struggling against the grip Reborn had on her wrist.

"You're one of Them, aren't you?!" she shouted in fear as her efforts to escape doubled, "Why do you insist on chasing after me?! I don't have anything you want!"

'_Them?' _thought Reborn, confused, '_Who is she talking about?'_

As an answer to Reborn's unspoken question, he felt several aura signatures suddenly enter the graveyard. In a split second, Leon turned into a gun, and Reborn was coolly analyzing the people that had filled the now not-so-lonely graveyard.

"Ciaossu," he said, nodding at the man who was radiating waves of arrogance, presumably the leader of the group, "Can I help you?"

* * *

The haughty black-haired man with dull brown eyes hidden behind dark shades, dressed in a white pinstriped suit and smoking a thin cigarette, looked down at the child in amusement.

"Why hello there, little kid," he said mockingly, "My name is Cobra, what's yours?"

Instead of the fearful reaction Cobra was expecting, the child simply answered in a flat tone, "Ichikura Nishiki, code name Cobra. Recent transfer from the North Yakuza before they agreed to the Vongola Grand Alliance. Currently a shateigashira among the ranks of the Southern Yakuza, recently sent to accomplish Operation: 'Umarekawari'. Special details about the mission are classified—for now."

As Cobra gaped at the kid in shock, the child merely smirked.

"You're new in this mafia game, aren't you, Nishiki?" said the child in the same mocking tone Cobra used. "Honestly, no one wears sunglasses at night anymore. In fact, I don't think anyone ever did."

Some of his henchmen started snickering, causing Cobra to bristle in anger and embarrassment, glaring at said henchmen.

The child kept talking, "Ah, I forgot. Though I know all about you, you probably don't know me. I'll introduce myself then: the name's Reborn."

Surprised murmurs broke out all around Cobra. However, just as Reborn thought, Cobra was an amateur, and though he had heard of the infamous hitman Reborn, seeing that he was just a kid made Cobra laugh. Needless to say, he was completely unaware of what Reborn was capable of.

Cobra, brimming with confidence again, then noticed that Reborn was still tightly grabbing the wrist of a girl who seemed frozen in fear. He grinned wolfishly. _'Perfect,' _he thought, _'Tsunade's here. That saved me the trouble of hunting her down.'_

* * *

Reborn warily assessed the men surrounding him and Tsunade.

'_Twelve men in total, not including the conceited bastard leading them,_' he thought, '_They're all armed with regular standard issue guns, nothing semi-automatic. I could easily take care of them all, but,' _his eyes flickered briefly over to where Tsunade was starting to tremble, '_I have to protect her, no matter the cost.'_

Reborn felt a surge of arrogance from Cobra's aura, making him smirk.

'_Now he's underestimating me,' _he thought in amusement, _'That's just what I need.'_

* * *

Cobra waved at half of his men to stand down. Though they visibly hesitated, they obeyed and stood to the side, lowering their weapons. He looked at Reborn with an overconfident air.

"Now look here, _Reborn," _said Cobra, drawing out Reborn's name like it was a joke, "You're a hitman, and I'm one too. You probably were on your way back from some mission when you caught a bratty little girl poking around. She's no value to you, but she does have some value to me. Let me cut you a deal: you give her to me, and I give you part of the reward. Money is the only thing us mafiosos care about, am I right?"

Reborn did not look amused, but before he was able to reply, Tsunade clutched her head, crying out in pain. Reborn looked at her in alarm, seemingly giving Cobra the opening he needed.

'_This is great!' _thought Cobra giddily as he signaled to the six men he had ready to attack, _'Now I don't even have to split the reward.'_

Unfortunately, he forgot he was against Reborn.

Cobra heard six shots fired in quick succession, and his men who didn't even get to aim yet, fell to the ground, a bullet wound in their heads. He stared in disbelief at Reborn, who was blowing the steam from his gun's muzzle. Reborn looked up at Cobra with cold eyes, the fedora shading part of his face.

"No deal," he said icily.

He scooped up Tsunade, who squeaked in surprise, and jumped into the trees, sprinting away.

It took Cobra quite a few moments to recover from his shock. Once he did, he was shaking with anger.

"Come on!" he snapped in fury at the remaining shell-shocked six men. "Two of you, stay behind to take care of the bodies. The rest of you, follow me. We have children to chase."

* * *

Tsunade, just barely managing to recover from the traumatizing experience, took some time to view the person carrying her as they flew through the trees.

'_He can't be any older than me,' _she realized as she took in his pointy nose, his strange curly sideburns, his mysterious dark eyes that showed how clever he was, and his black fedora with an orange stripe that revealed only a bit of his spiky ebony hair. '_His hair,' _she thought absentmindedly, '_I wonder if it's softer than it looks.'_

For some reason, that thought caused another short burst of pain to course through her head. Tsunade gasped, and Reborn glanced down at her.

"You ok?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, confused at how concerned a stranger was about her well-being, "How old are you anyway? Why do you care so much about what happens to me?"

Reborn chuckled. "Aren't you curious?" he said in amusement, earning a glare from an impatient Tsunade. "Well, the answer to your first question is either 39 years-old, or 8, last time I checked." Seeing that Tsunade was about to ask what he meant, he quickly moved on to her second question. "Answer to the second question, is that scum like them give us hitman a bad name. My boss and student is devoted to stopping people like them, and I'm committed to the cause too."

'_Boss and student?' _ thought Tsunade, puzzled. She saw a flicker in the shroud surrounding Reborn and she narrowed her eyes. "You're not telling me the whole truth," she said accusingly, "Your aura gives off a guilty feeling."

"You can see auras?" asked Reborn, startled. After Tsunade nodded, he chuckled again and said, "Hold on."

Tsunade watched in shock as his aura flickered once, before it vanished like a candle flame that was snuffed out. She had never seen anyone who could do that before, and she opened her mouth to ask more questions, but she was cut off when they broke through the forest and Reborn abruptly stopped in an alley.

Putting her down, Reborn gripped her shoulders so that she would look at him eye to eye. "Listen to me, Tsunade," he said, suddenly gravely serious, "I can't outrun them forever, so we need a diversion in order to make it to the train station. So I ask you this: do you trust me?"

Tsunade was about to say no because honestly, she had just met him literally five minutes ago. However, deep inside, she realized that she did trust him. Despite the many betrayals she had faced in the past, Tsunade, for some reason, felt that she trusted this complete stranger with her life.

"Yes, I do trust you," she said, wholeheartedly believing it.

Reborn nodded, and then he leaned forward to whisper something to her. After that, he stepped away from her and had Leon transform into his weapon of choice. His entire demeanor changed into the cold-hearted hitman he was known to be. "In that case," he said, his voice now cold and mocking, "You'll have to die."

* * *

**A/N: Yet another cliffhanger? I'm so so mean! Just kidding ;), I won't do that to you guys this time. I did say above that this chapter is pretty long because I decided not to make you all suffer in suspense. Anyway, enough of my jokes, continue reading the story.**

* * *

Cobra's eyes widened from what he was hearing. Hidden in his spot among the trees, he couldn't believe that Reborn would actually shoot her, until a single shot rang out. Cobra swore and signaled to his men to quickly move in. When they got to the alley, they saw Tsunade lying on the ground, blood sprayed on the floor. Reborn looked at them emotionlessly.

"My own boss had a reward for her too," he sneered, "The only difference is that he wanted her dead, and I didn't feel like sharing the money with Boryokudan scum like you. She was so gullible. I save her once and suddenly she trusts me completely. Tsunade was probably the easiest hit I ever had."

Cobra and his men could only stand there in shock, astonished at how cruel he was, even for a hitman. Reborn glared at them, as if he was annoyed by their presence. "I'm not called the World's Strongest Hitman for nothing," he said, his voice dripping with venom, "Now that I'm not burdened with that little brat anymore, I could easily take care of you all. Anyone care to take me up on that offer?"

Cobra could tell Reborn was dead serious. He cursed under his breath before signaling to his men, who were beginning to quake in fright, to quickly run away to the nearest safe house. As they sprinted away, Cobra looked back and saw Reborn was staring at them, his dark eyes making sure that they were leaving. A shiver ran down his back, and he urged his men to move faster.

* * *

When Cobra reached the safe house, he immediately realized something was wrong. First, the armed men that stood at the door were absent, and the iron doors were wide open. Second, the multiple security cameras around the entrance were deactivated; something that never, ever, happens. Cobra and his men warily entered the complex, and then, after carefully opening the front door, they stared at the carnage in horror.

All around the safe house were multiple bodies, some piled on top of others, all motionless. Although the death toll was high, he could see that the cause of death for each person was just a single shot through the head.

'_Reborn!' _he thought, gritting his teeth, '_He is so much more skilled than I thought he was!'_

One of his henchmen shouted from the corner of the house, "Cobra-san! This one is breathing!"

Cobra ran over to the henchman and looked at the man who, despite having a fatal bullet wound, was groaning and sitting up, clutching his head in pain.

"What happened?" demanded Cobra. "Where's the oyabun?"

However, the man just stared at him blankly before saying in a shaky voice, "I—I don't know. Who are you? Where am I? What am I doing? Last thing I remember was that I was signing up for…for…for something! I—can't remember anything!"

Just as the man said those words, all the other 'corpses' began waking up, each one extremely confused with absolutely no memory of their involvement with the Yakuza.

'Damn!' thought Cobra in frustration, '_Did Reborn have special bullets that could've caused this?!'_

Then, all of a sudden, among all the confusion, Cobra realized something important.

'_When Tsunade died,' _he realized, '_There was blood,_

_But none of it was pooling under her head where she was shot.'_

He swore loudly and ran out of the door, sprinting as fast as he could towards the alleyway, ignoring the shouts and curious glances he received. However, he knew what he was going to see, and when he arrived, it only confirmed his suspicions.

Reborn, along with Tsunade, was gone.

* * *

Glossary:

Oyabun: family boss

Shateigashira: second lieutenant

Boroyokudan: violence group; insulting way to refer to the Yakuza

* * *

**A/N: See, that wasn't THAT great of a cliffhanger ;P I already started typing the next chapter when I decided to separate this one into two chapters, so it shouldn't be that long of a wait. HUGE thanks to **_**smileysparklea**_**, **_**Lite Crystal27**_**, **_**Inarachi**_**, and **_**natachoco**_** for reviewing XD! You guys are the best!**

**READ AND REVIEW PWEASE! **


	3. Prologue Part 3

**A/N: Ehehehe, so it seems like I lied about the quick update. In my defense though, I've been traveling nonstop for the past few days, and I'm currently finishing up this chapter in the airport, waiting for my connecting flight =.=. Anyway, this is officially the longest chapter I've written, and the last part of the prologue. I forgot to mention that this story is slightly darker than my other story because unfortunately for Tsunade, life is NEVER fun and games. Hope you like it!**

* * *

Tsunade's eyes snapped open, and she blinked several times to adjust to her fuzzy surroundings. She tried to sit up, but her pounding head forced her to lie back down.

'_What happened?' _she thought in confusion. '_Last thing I remember is Reborn telling me that we were surrounded, and that he had to knock me out.' _She groaned and lightly touched the wound on her head that was currently healing. '_I just didn't know he had to shoot me to do it.'_

Just then, a young girl with black hair and beautiful blue eyes entered the room. She was wearing a strange mushroom-like white cap that was decorated with some sort of emblem on it and a large black bar at the sides, with two orange stripes flanking it. The girl was also wearing a long trench-coat like jacket with the same emblem at the bottom right and left sides. Underneath that, she wore a short blouse and a pant-skirt.

"Oh! You're awake," she exclaimed, rushing over to Tsunade. After she checked the IV tube dripping into Tsunade's arm and redressed her bandages, the girl let out a sigh of relief and poured some tea from a pot sitting on the table.

"My name's Yuni!" she said cheerfully, offering the tea to Tsunade who accepted it gratefully. "You gave me quite a fright there, being so emaciated. I could literally see the skin hanging off your bones! The IV tube is currently dripping a mix of nutrients into your veins, but you should be able to eat regular food soon."

Seeing that Tsunade was staring at her clothes, Yuni laughed and said, "Don't worry, I don't wear this all the time. I just happened to be at a mafia meeting before Uncle Reborn called to tell me about your condition."

'_This girl's a mafia boss?' _thought Tsunade, surprised, '_And did she just call Reborn, Uncle?'_

Thinking of Reborn, she immediately straightened, an action that her head screamed in protest at.

"Where's Reborn?" she asked Yuni, ignoring the pain.

"He's sitting outside, waiting," said Yuni, her tone slightly apologetic, "Reborn, well, he feels pretty guilty for shooting you."

"But he's a hitman, isn't he?" questioned Tsunade. "Isn't he used to shooting people?"

"Yes, but he nearly killed you because you were so malnourished," explained Yuni. "Just like his boss and student, he doesn't believe in unnecessary killing. He only kills those necessary to achieve his main objective, and nearly killing you, an innocent civilian, is causing him to feel very guilty."

Tsunade could tell there was more to it, but she also knew that Yuni wasn't willing to say more on the subject.

"So Reborn is your uncle?" asked Tsunade, changing the subject.

"Well, not exactly," said Yuni. "He knew my grandmother and my mother, so he was sort of integrated into the family."

Before Tsunade could ask any more questions, Yuni held up a hand to silence her.

"I'll tell you more about myself, Reborn, and the mafia, if you tell me about your own past," said Yuni gently. Tsunade was about to protest that she had nothing to hide, but Yuni just gave her a compassionate glance. "Your intelligence is extremely high for someone your age, and your knowledge about auras isn't something commonly taught. Also," Yuni lowered her voice and looked at Tsunade sympathetically, "I changed your clothes in order to run a thorough exam, which means I saw your wounds. It's ok if you were hurt in the past, but holding it in will just make it hurt more."

Looking at Yuni's understanding look, Tsunade suddenly felt very tired, and she was more than willing to share a burden that had been troubling her for so long. She began to speak in a small soft voice.

"It began when I was abandoned at the orphanage…"

* * *

Reborn sat outside of the door, gritting his teeth and clenching the arms of the chair tightly as he thought about Cobra's words.

'_We hitman only care about money?' _Reborn thought angrily. '_That's exactly the type of mindset Tsuna is trying to change. I should've killed that bastard, along with all those people in that safe house. However, I had to make sure Tsunade was safe. My own feelings come in second to her safety.'_

Reborn felt his heart lurch guiltily.

'_I could've killed her,' _he thought, feeling as if a stake was being driven through his chest, '_Even though I didn't know that she was malnourished to the point where my bullets could've killed her, but I should've taken that possibility into account. By the time I arrived, she was barely breathing, and her pulse was so, so weak. I could feel the life draining out of her, just like I did nearly two decades ago.'_

Reborn stared at the ground, his eyes boring holes into the wooden floor. '_If I had to feel her die again, I would've gone insane.'_

He felt someone familiar approaching the house and sighed. "He's here already?" he muttered, getting up to open the door, "What am I saying? Of course he is. He's probably the second most eager person to see Tsunade alive again."

Reborn opened the door to reveal a very frazzled and tense Iemitsu, clutching his laptop under one arm.

"Oh! Reborn!" said Iemitsu. When Reborn raised an eyebrow at his apparent surprise, Iemitsu smiled sheepishly.

"I'm not quite used to seeing you like that yet," he said apologetically. Then, remembering why he was here, Iemitsu grabbed Reborn's shoulders and began shaking him eagerly. "Is she really here?" he asked impatiently, "Is Tsunade really alive?"

"First, please get your hands off my shoulders," said Reborn, resisting the temptation to flip Iemitsu onto the floor. After Iemitsu quickly withdrew his hands, Reborn took a deep breath and said, "Tsunade is here. I confirmed her identity by her aura, but a DNA test will probably give further confirmation. As for your second question, she's no longer dying, which is a good thing."

Iemitsu's gleeful expression was abruptly replaced by a confused one. "What do you mean, 'she's no longer dying'?"

"Well, you see," said Reborn regretfully, "We were being chased by the Southern Yakuza, and we needed a diversion to escape, so I shot her with a Fake Death bullet. However, I forgot the fact the she was starving and the bullet slowed her vitals to a dangerous level."

Iemitsu's mood turned dark. "You mean, you almost killed her?!" he yelled. When Reborn didn't answer, Iemitsu rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Dammit Reborn! After waiting so long for her to return, you end up nearly killing her?! What type of logic is that?!"

"It was either that or abandoning her to those boryokudan to capture her!" shouted Reborn angrily. "I didn't have a choice!"

Iemitsu opened his mouth furiously to respond, but at that moment, Yuni stepped out of the room with a stern look on her face.

"Stop it, both of you," she said firmly, closing the door behind her, "You're disturbing Tsunade. Reborn did what he had to do under the circumstances, so stop complaining Iemitsu."

They all stood in silence for a moment while Yuni's glare forced them both to calm down. Then, Reborn chuckled and said, "Yuni, you remind me so much of your grandmother."

"The resemblance is uncanny," agreed Iemitsu.

Sensing that most of the tension was gone, Yuni relaxed and smiled. "Tsunade's going to be fine," she assured them, "Luckily, her condition was well within my medical ability to treat, so I didn't have to call Shamal over."

Iemitsu and Reborn breathed a sigh of relief. "She's fine and we didn't have to ask the perverted doctor for help," said Iemitsu, "It seems like a win-win to me."

Reborn nodded and looked at Yuni fondly. "Looks like your medical training is paying off," he said in admiration, "In a few years, you'll probably be the youngest doctor in the world."

"Well, if you count my memories and skills I acquired after your trip to the future," said Yuni, amused, "I guess you can say that I sort of cheated." Her smile quickly faded. "I'm going to pour some tea for you two," she said hurriedly, "We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Once they all settled down with cups of soothing green tea, Yuni began telling them what she learned.

"Tsunade was left at an orphanage when she was just a few months old, left with nothing but a small notecard with her first name on it. Growing up for her was as dreary and depressing as any orphan's life; constantly wondering why she was left behind, having no chance at a proper education, and being virtually isolated from the outside world. All of that changed when a couple came into the orphanage when Tsunade was around three years old. They showed great interest in Tsunade, and, in the end of the day, they decided to adopt her. For a while, Tsunade was happy. Her foster parents seemed very kind and gave her the attention she never received in the orphanage. She was an intelligent child, and under the careful eye of her parents and special tutors, she quickly flourished under a custom homeschooling method. By the time she was five years old, she was already completing high school credit classes."

Iemitsu let out a low whistle, and even Reborn seemed impressed. Yuni nodded and said, "That was my reaction too. It explains her advanced vocabulary and behaviors though; she's even more mature than the current Vongola guardians and Tsuna."

"Anyone her age is more mature than dame-Tsuna," muttered Reborn.

"Regarding the two, I've developed a theory on how they both were brought back, and how their separate personalities developed," said Yuni. Seeing the eager looks on their faces, Yuni held up a hand with a small smile and said, "But first, I need to finish the story of her past."

Reborn and Iemitsu reluctantly sat back in their seats, and Yuni picked up where she left off, her tone this time slightly depressing.

"Unfortunately for Tsunade, the first two years of her new life were nothing but a hoax. It turned out that her 'parents' were simply training her and keeping her under surveillance for a greater purpose. One day, they gave Tsunade a drink that had been laced with some sort of knock-out drug. Hours later, she woke up to find herself securely chained down in a cage barely big enough for two adults. It was in this jail that her 'special' training, including her training in auras and reading behaviors. The formerly compassionate couple that she had come to accept as her parents became cruel and unyielding, forcing her to complete lesson after lesson. Though you, Reborn, also push your students to the edge in tutoring them, you do it in regards to their own personal growth, for them to grow stronger and fulfill their full potential. However, this couple was only interested in teaching her for their financial gain. They were obviously being well paid to do this, and so they relentlessly drove Tsunade, punishing her harshly when she didn't meet their standards."

Yuni paused a moment before continuing in a soft sad voice.

"Sometimes they would starve her, feeding her nothing but water and stalks of wheat, as if she were some sort of animal. Other times, the punishment was physical, ranging from short bursts of electrical shocks to just typical physical abuse. Every time, she would cry until her throat was raw and she had no more tears to cry, and that couple would watch, and they would simply laugh."

"You mean," growled Iemitsu, trembling with barely contained fury, "They would torture her?"

Yuni nodded sadly. "I saw her scars myself when I was treating her," she said quietly, "The whole time when she was telling me this, her tone went flat, and her face was devoid of all emotion."

Iemitsu swore and stood up, pacing around, trying to reign in his anger, muttering various obscenities under his breath. Reborn remained in his chair, gently putting down the tea cup that was threatening to break from the amount of force he was putting on it. His eyes, hidden in the shadow of his fedora, were blazing with rage. Though, as a hitman, he preferred clean and hassle-free deaths, Reborn was having no trouble thinking of the many scenarios he could put those two bastards through to ensure they suffered as much pain as possible before dying a horrendous, gruesome death.

When Iemitsu had calmed down enough to sit back down, Yuni continued.

"After a year of nightmares, they suddenly changed what they were doing. Apparently, they had received new instructions from their employer, and instead of their normal training regimen, the couple began giving her daily injections of an unknown drug. Based off Tsunade's descriptions of it, I can conclude that it is similar to the one that future-Byakuran had given me to dull my heart. However, though I was a willing participant, Tsunade certainly was not. She fought furiously against the effects of the drug because since she already was so scarred, it had nothing to use against her. Even so, it was starting to get to her, and as each day passed, she could feel her own free will slipping away. Her thinking process became blurred, and her aura seemed muddled. There was no doubt that soon, she would be brainwashed to the point of becoming a mindless slave.

Then, one day, luck finally seemed to be on her side.

While the couple was preparing the usual dosage, a chemical fire broke out in their workspace. Unable to contain it, they quickly fled, leaving Tsunade behind. Thinking quickly, she realized that she was skinny enough to, with a little effort, escape from the chains that bound her. The couple had left the cage door unlocked, and Tsunade was able to run away just as the whole area was consumed in flames.

In a blink of an eye, her nightmare was gone.

Ever since then, she had been using her wits and her unique skills to survive on the streets and to avoid capture, never trusting anyone, until she met you, Reborn."

They sat in silence for a little while before Yuni began speaking again.

"After observing her past in comparison to Tsuna's, I have developed a theory," she said, "You both remember my grandmother's theory on DNA combination, right?"

Reborn nodded. "If only part of someone's DNA was used, wouldn't it make sense that it would bond with DNA strands that resemble it the most? Then, wouldn't it be logical that the other DNA be completed with the remnants of the other? You would be left with two complete genetic codes for two different bodies. So if one twin returned, it's possible the other would too. Luce told me while I was training under her, and I passed on the theory to Iemitsu."

"Yes, that's correct," said Yuni, "Though I still think hers makes the most sense, after reading through a few Kudo family records, I found some new information. It turns out that Kudo Tsunayoshi and Kudo Tsunade had been lied to in their past life."

Iemitsu and Reborn stared at her intensely. "What?" asked Iemitsu, confused.

"They were told that Tsunade had an insignificant fate that wasn't even worth pursuing," said Yuni slowly, "However, her birth records show otherwise. When I looked at Tsunayoshi's, his, obviously, had his fate as a mafia boss written down. Tsunade's on the other hand, was left blank. Digging through older records, every birth certificate had at least something written down, even if it was insignificant. That led me to one conclusion:

Tsunade had broken centuries of tradition by being the first to be born without a fixed future.

Of course, this wasn't easy for a family ruled by fate to accept. They were afraid of her as the odd one out, and so they pushed her back. Then, when Tsunayoshi died, she adopted his fate. Going by Masemune's scrolls, this means that since Tsunade never had a fate to begin with, she had the same one as Tsunayoshi, giving her the 'most significant' fate as well. In short, both of them were brought back, and if Tsuna has the original destiny, then Tsunade is back to where she started.

Once again, she is free."

"So she can do whatever she wants now?" asked Reborn.

"Theoretically, yes," said Yuni, "Unfortunately, that makes her an ideal target as a human weapon. Kudo Tsunayoshi grew up fairly privileged, so Tsuna grew up in a normal family condition. However, Tsunade had to suffer as much as she did in her past life, although that did give her the chance to learn past skills. I believe that Tsuna could've learned what she did too if he had been trained when he was younger. Though Tsuna still is strong, he's surrounded by people to protect him and a future to fulfill. Tsunade is a far easier target to manipulate."

"Sadly, their reason to capture her isn't as simple as that," said Iemitsu, pulling out his laptop. "On the way here, I finished decoding the file containing the current Mission: 'Umarekawari' that the Southern Yakuza was pursuing."

Iemitsu opened the file on his computer and passed it to Reborn. "Think about it," he said, "Though the drug would be effective for a while, Tsunade would eventually build up a resistance to it. Their perfect human weapon will soon turn against them. Once that happens, they'll need someone with the exact same skill set, and yet be completely loyal to the cause."

"Her child," Reborn realized, quickly scanning over that portion of the file.

"That would make sense," said Yuni thoughtfully, "Her child would be able to accomplish everything Tsunade can. And if he was brought up by the Yakuza, he would have no reason _not _to listen to them. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if the Kudos had some genetic mutation preventing illegitimate children, making Tsunade's brainwashed consent necessary."

"Luckily for us, and unfortunately for them, she's now under our care," said Iemitsu with a determined glint in his eyes, "and there's no way in hell are we letting them do that to her."

Yuni stood up with a small smile. "I'm going to prepare some food for when she wakes up," she said. You two can go into her room as long as you stay quiet."

* * *

Reborn gave Iemitsu his laptop back and they quietly entered the room. Tsunade was lying on her side, her chest lightly rising and falling. Iemitsu smiled fondly and gently held her hand, sitting in the chair next to the bad.

"She's really here," he said, choking back a sob, "After so long, my sister is back."

Reborn couldn't resist smiling slightly when he heard Iemitsu refer to Tsunade as his sister.

'_He really let go of his romantic feelings for her,' _thought Reborn.

Iemitsu wiped his eyes and turned to Reborn. "Remember how Masemune said in his scrolls that, 'in order to unlock one's old memories, one must hear a phrase that meant something important in one's life and answer with the correct phrase'?"

"Yeah," said Reborn, "Why?"

"You've noticed how Tsuna has been getting migraines, right?" asked Iemitsu, "And I'm guessing Tsunade had a few migraines on the way here?"

Reborn nodded thoughtfully, seeing what Iemitsu was hinting at. "You think their memories are connected?"

"After hearing what Yuni said, it makes sense, doesn't it?" said Iemitsu. "Since we know Tsunade better than her brother, I feel like we'll have a better chance with her key phrase than Tsuna's. Shoichi and Spanner have been working on a special bracelet for a while that'll diminish the effect of the migraines to a dull ache, However, it shouldn't be able to do anything if they hear their key phrase."

Iemitsu stood up. "I'll adopt her into the Sawada household," he said, surprising Reborn. "Tsunade will be much safer under the title as the adopted sister of the Vongola Decimo. I'll send you her bracelet once it's completed." Seeing Reborn's shocked expression, he chuckled. "I haven't seen that expression on your face in a long time," he said, amused, "You really didn't think I would let you worm out of caring for her, did you? We both know she has the skill to become a successful mafioso, and who better to train her the World's Strongest Hitman? As my last act as her brother, I put her under your training and care."

Reborn slowly nodded, and a relieved grin broke out on Iemitsu's face. "Thanks," said Iemitsu. With that, he walked out of the room.

Reborn sat in the empty seat, looking at Tsunade wistfully. '_So she's under my care once again,' _he thought with a tinge of sadness, '_Last time this happened, she died right in front of my eyes."_

He laid a cautious hand over hers. '_It seems so fragile,' _he realized. To him, it seemed like she was a tiny snowflake. If he got too close, then she would melt and disappear in front of his eyes.

It would be all his fault once again.

Reborn felt Tsunade stir, and she blinked blearily, her vibrant green eyes locking onto him. "Reborn?" she said sleepily. Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to see something strange. "Was someone else here?"

"Yes, there was," said Reborn, impressed by how observant she was, "His name was Iemitsu."

He saw her wince as she was struck with another sudden migraine, and he waited for her to recover before continuing. "He currently has a few people working on a solution to those migraines. Also, he welcomes you into his family."

"You mean, he adopted me?" said Tsunade suspiciously. She had enough troubles with foster parents in the past. "Why would he adopt someone he doesn't know?"

"For the same reason I would save someone I don't know," replied Reborn, "You were a victim of power abuse from a certain Mafia famiglia, and bringing you under his care was the best way to ensure you would be safe."

Tsunade nodded. "Yuni told me about you and the current mafia situation," she said, "Though I find it hard to believe, it seems like the most logical explanation for this madness." Tsunade looked at Reborn curiously. "So what happens to me now?"

"Now, you are Sawada Tsunade, adopted sister of the most powerful, and most clumsy, mafia boss in the world, Sawada Tsunayoshi," said Reborn, noticing Tsunade's wince when Tsuna's name was mentioned. "You have many opportunities, and I'm making my one offer out of the many you'll receive. Will you become my student?"

Tsunade could only blink at him in shock.

"I'll warn you now: it will be far from easy training under me, as my previous students will agree on. For ten-years, I'll drag you all across the globe, challenging you to push yourself more and more, teaching you the unspoken rules and lessons of a hitman. It'll be difficult, but I promise you that my training will be for you to grow, and in the end, you may just be the second greatest hitman in the world."

Tsunade thought about it for a brief second before answering him without hesitation.

"I'll take your offer."

Reborn stared at her. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Tsunade nodded, the determined look never leaving her eyes. "Seeing the skills you demonstrated today, and the ideals you believe in, I think this will be the best or me to learn how to defend myself and the people who deserve it," she said firmly, "Also, I believe my trust in you isn't misplaced, despite my past experiences with trust."

She couldn't stop the grin that was quickly spreading on her face. "I warn you though," she said, "I won't be aiming for second-best."

"We'll see about that," said Reborn, getting up and out of his seat as he felt Yuni approach. "Once Yuni declares you are well enough, we'll begin your training."

There was a short pause, and then Tsunade smiled at him. "Thank you, Reborn," she said sincerely.

Reborn felt a sudden pang in his chest as his heart skipped a beat. He quickly exited the room as Yuni came in and began fussing over Tsunade. Reborn quietly closed the door and he leaned against it, letting his fedora cover his eyes. Deep inside, he knew what he had to do, even if it ended up hurting him with every passing moment. He would always protect Tsunade from afar, never getting too close,

Even if it meant she would eventually leave his side.

* * *

Cobra, chained down to a chair in a small, narrow room, barely as wide as a shower, looked at his oyabun with pleading eyes.

"Please give me a second chance!" he begged. "I didn't know I was against such a formidable enemy, but now I do know! I won't fail you twice, I promise!"

The oyabun, code name 'Demon Eyes', looked at him with the cruel, cold eyes that he was named for.

"Oh, don't worry," said Demon Eyes coolly, "I understand. I suppose you would like your payment now?"

Cobra couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Thank you so much, oyabun-san!" he exclaimed. "I promise you, you won't regret it! I'll resume right—" He was abruptly cut off when he felt something hit his head. Looking down, Cobra noticed that it was a 50 yen coin. Another one fell, and then two more. Soon, they were steadily falling faster and faster.

"I hope you don't mind your 1 million yen reward in coins," said Demon Eyes as the coins began to pile up. Soon, Cobra's screams were drown out by the sound of falling coins, and by the time the last coin fell, the only sign of Cobra's hapless demise was the growing pool of blood seeping out from the room.

"Go clean up the mess," said Demon Eyes calmly to his two shocked wakagashira. "I have business to take care of."

Though the oyabun seemed cool and collected as he walked away, he was furious on the inside.

'_First, two idiots allow her to escape,' _he thought angrily, '_and now, she manages to be taken into the custody of the strongest mafia family in the world?! How am I supposed to get Tsunade back now?!"_

It was then that his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller and growled.

'_The Northern Faction oyabun,' _he thought, irritated, '_What could he possibly want?'_

Demon eyes answered the call.

"Why hello there, Demon Eyes," said the Northern oyabun, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"What do you want, Raion?" snapped Demon Eyes.

"Now, that's no way to talk to a former ally," said Raion mockingly. "Even after you lost Tsunade."

Demon Eyes tensed up and lowered his voice to a dangerous hiss. "How do you know about her?!" he demanded.

"I have my ways," said Raion simply. "Luckily for the both of us, it seems like our interests coincide. You want Tsunade for her power, and I want her for something else entirely."

"What are you getting at?" asked Demon Eyes suspiciously.

"Oh, I think you'll like this plan," said Raion mysteriously.

* * *

After the Northern oyabun explained his plan, Demon eyes reluctantly agreed that it was clever.

"It does seem very well thought out and likely to work," admitted Demon Eyes. "But following this plan means I'll have to commit a lot of time and sacrifice a lot of my power to complete it."

On the other end, Raion laughed. "Don't you worry," he said, amused, "In the end, you'll have more power than you can imagine, and we'll both get what we want."

Demon Eyes thought about it for just a moment longer. "Ok, fine," he relented. "I'll announce the combination of our forces and out compliance to the Vongola Grand Alliance officially next week."

"I'm glad you agreed," said Raion, his icy eyes glinting with dark satisfaction, "Trust me, I spent a very long time thinking this through, and there is no way it can fail."

The call ended with a 'click'.

* * *

**A/N: Gah sorry this chapter is sooo long… The main storyline, which I'm currently still plotting out, will begin in the next chapter. If I'm stuck in this airport any longer, maybe I'll get started on it today. If not, then you'll unfortunately just have to wait. Special THANKS to **_**smileysparklea**_**, **_**Lite Crystal27**_**, and **_**Zukikari Dokato de Nuvola **_**for reviewing!**

**Please, please, PLEASE, Read and Review!**


	4. Chapter 1: Growing Up as a Hitman

**A/N: I give up…I can't control my rambling habits anymore…this chapter is long, and there's probably a pretty good chance the others will be too. TT-TT Ah well, I can't do anything about that. Here's another chapter I wrote every chance I got on my travels, and I hope you guys to mind the length too much**

* * *

**9 years and 10 months later…**

Nakamura Muto, current head of the Interpol Beijing's Sub-Bureau for Hong Kong, stood staring through the one-way glass window at the current culprit.

Although he had been born in Japan, his family had moved to Hong Kong when he was young. After pursuing his dream of becoming a police officer all throughout high school and college, his excellent grades and additional knowledge of multiple languages caught the attention of the local Interpol. Nakamura worked hard and quickly moved up in the ranks of the Interpol. Finally, after a decade of hard work, at the age of 35, he was one of the youngest ever promoted to the highest level of Hong Kong law enforcement.

But never, in all his years of experience, had he ever seen such a strange criminal.

The young woman wore an all-black suit with dark red combat boots and a red long-sleeved polo with a black tie underneath. She was leaning back in the chair as far as the handcuffs chaining her black gloved hands to the table would let her. Her closed eyes were hidden in the shadow of her red fedora with a black stripe running across the sides, as if she was sleeping.

And was that a _chameleon _balanced on the brim of her fedora?

Nakamura turned to the young man next to him. '_I haven't seen him around before,' _he thought, observing the jittery behaviors of the man that screamed insecurity. '_He must be a new intern._'

"Hey, rookie," he said, causing the man to jump, startled, "What's your name?"

"M-my name, sir?" said the young man nervously, "It's, uh, Kazuki, Kazuki Ryosuke."

"Why is she in here, Kazuki?" asked Nakamura, continuing to scrutinize the young woman.

"Well, um, Team 1 was zeroing in on the current location of the alleged snitch Bao-cai Zhao who has been accused of selling government information and illegal weaponry to foreign countries," said Kazuki, reading the case file. "Right when they were about to make the arrest, they heard a gunshot, and Zhao slumped forward, dead. They looked in the direction of the sound and found her leaning against the railing, casually blowing the smoke off her gun muzzle. She went into custody without complaint, relinquishing a total of three guns, eight throwing knives, a pack of cards—"

"Wait, a pack of cards?" said Nakamura incredulously.

Kazuki nodded vigorously. "Yes," he replied, "When asked why, she told the team that she thought that they told her to hand over anything that could be used as a weapon. They tolerated the pack of cards, but the team flat out refused to accept the chameleon when she pulled it off her hat and offered it to them. Since she was able to follow the team's instructions, we know for a fact she is fluent in mandarin. She claims she has information that she'll only reveal if she gets what she wants in return.

Nakamura sighed and tossed Kazuki his badge, startling him. "I need you to go into the archives and pull out Zhao's file, including the ones stored digitally."

"B-but sir!" protested Kazuki. "I can't take your badge! It's against—"

"Just go," said Nakamura, exasperated. After Kazuki muttered an apology and quickly scurried off, Nakamura took a deep breath and entered the interrogation room.

He sat down in the chair across from the subject just as she cracked open a bright green eye.

"Ciaossu," she said, tipping her fedora in greeting. "Nakamura, I believe?"

He nodded, secretly impressed. "Nice to meet you," he said politely. "You are?"

"You can call me the Black Rose Huntress," she said loftily. "I would like to keep my identity in the dark for now."

Something about her code name stirred something in Nakamura's memory, something he learned in the past, but he put it off for now. "You're fluent in Italian, Japanese, and Mandarin? That's not very common."

The Huntress raised a brow while tugging on her light brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. "Deducing facts based off my behavior and speaking style? That's not very common. You're not wrong though; those three languages are among the 290 I know."

Before Nakamura could respond, the Huntress leaned forward, all hints of her previous relaxed behavior gone.

"Now, shall we get down to business?" she said, her sharp eyes analyzing him. "I don't want to keep you from your much needed cigarette break any longer."

When Nakamura gaped at her in shock, she laughed. "You're not the only one trained in profiling," she said, amused. "The few cigarette ashes on your otherwise impeccable suit have been hastily smeared, showing that you were interrupted and didn't get to finish. Also, though you did a remarkable job of hiding it from your subordinates, your left eyelid is beginning to twitch slightly, and your focus has changed at least six times in the last few minutes. Your attention is wandering, and I would like to talk to you while you're still sharp."

'_She's good,' _though Nakamura, grudgingly impressed. '_It won't be easy dealing with her.'_

"Why did you kill Zhao?" he asked.

"There are many reasons he deserved to die," said the Huntress. "I killed him after I got the information I needed. Normally, a simple memory wipe would've been sufficient, but he had a couple other crimes he had to pay for, including dealing in illegal human trafficking."

'_Human trafficking?' _thought Nakamura, shocked. "How did you get that information?"

The Huntress' eyes began to blaze with anger, and her body language abruptly turned hostile.

"As if I could ever forget the five years in that cold, dark cellar, waiting for a 'customer' to take me," she snarled. "The day I escaped, I swore I would make him pay for every second I spent in servitude." She buried her head in her hands.

'_There's the trigger,' _thought Nakamura, relaxing slightly. '_Now I can successfully defuse the situation.'_

"I understand the trauma you went through," began Nakamura. "However, that's not—"

"I'm just kidding," said the Huntress, calm and collected once again, her formerly furious eyes now dancing with amusement. "He does have a human trafficking operation that I put a stop to before meeting him, but I wasn't a victim." She lifted up a hand and traced Nakamura's jawline, causing him to stiffen. "You're so easily manipulated," she said softly, her handcuffs jangling. "It's just a reminder that I'm in control here."

Nakamura jerked his head away. "If you got the information you needed, then what do you want?" he said, his unease leaking into his voice.

"There's only so much information you can get out of someone at gunpoint," she said, leaning back in her chair again. "Especially when federal agents are coming. I know you have information I need, and I have some you would like to know as well, including what countries he sold information to and who knows. It's just a simple trade of information, really."

Nakamura needed time to think. Muttering 'excuse me', he stood up and exited the room, feeling her emerald green eyes following his every move. He breathed a huge sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him. His second-in-command, Xin-yue Wang, came up to him with a cup of coffee, which he accepted gratefully.

"Thanks Xin," he said, taking a large gulp of the warm black liquid.

"No problem boss," said Xin, "How's the interrogation going?"

"Not well at all," admitted Nakamura. "She's very skilled and obviously won't stop until she gets what she wants."

"Should I get the Zhao file for you?" she asked.

"No, I already sent the new intern for it," said Nakamura, his attention focused on the one way window once again. The Huntress seemed to be looking right at him with a smug look, though he knew that couldn't be possible.

Xin frowned. "New intern?" she said, confused. "There isn't a new intern; the department hasn't hired anyone new lately due to budget cuts."

"That can't be right, I saw him here—" Nakamura abruptly stopped talking as he realized he'd been tricked. He swore loudly.

"Go into the file room and check for the Zhao file!" he commanded Xin. After she ran off, he grabbed the intercom mike and alerted the whole department to be looking for the fake intern.

'_I should've known she had a second solution in case I refused her terms!' _he thought furiously. '_I better talk to—'_

"Talk to little ol' me?" said a voice in the corner. Nakamura spun around to face the Huntress who was casually standing against the door. "Life lesson: when someone insists a chameleon is a weapon, listen to them," she said, gesturing to the reptile on her hat which now held a lock-pick on its tail. "Of course, if you had taken Jacine over here, I would've still broken out." With that, she pulled the fire alarm on her right and ran off just as the sprinklers began spraying water all over the place. Nakamura wiped the water off his face and began chasing after her, narrowly dodging the shelves, tables and chairs she knocked over to block his way. After running past many startled federal workers and up several flights of stairs, they both arrived on the roof. Nakamura grinned.

"Now you have nowhere to run," he said, breathing heavily.

The Huntress cocked her head to the side and smirked. "Oh?" she said, backing up to the edge of the building. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Realizing what she was about to do, Nakamura's eyes widened and he ran towards her, but it was too late.

She stepped off the building.

He looked over the edge and was greeted with the sight of a helicopter slowly rising, the Huntress hanging on to the underside of it. She tossed something to him, and he caught it, realizing that it was a single black rose.

"Maybe we can talk more next time," she said, winking. As soon as she said that, the whole fleet of helicopters went up, quickly hiding the one she was escaping in.

"The airshow is today," said Nakamura with a groan. He briefly considered calling it off, but he knew by the time all helicopters were grounded, the Black Rose Huntress would be long gone. Instead, he quickly radioed all airports to keep an eye out for anyone that matched Kazuki or the Huntress' descriptions. After that was done, he sighed and sat down.

"I need a cigarette," he muttered.

* * *

The Huntress carefully pulled herself up into the helicopter—only to be hit in the face with a mallet and nearly fall out again.

"Chaos," said the spiky black-haired man wielding the mallet. "You were nearly late, dame-Tsunade."

Tsunade groaned as she picked herself off the floor. "Nearly, not quite, Reborn," she said, glaring at her tutor. "Or should I say, Kazuki?"

Reborn smirked. "And you thought I couldn't pull it off," he said smugly.

"Of course I had my doubts," muttered Tsunade. "You, acting as a shy and humble intern? Even Tsuna couldn't help but laugh when he gave us the mission."

"That's why he got kicked in the face," said Reborn, arching his brow. "Would you like the same punishment for doubting me?"

"No, that's ok," she said quickly.

Tsunade took off her fedora, and Leon changed back, jumping onto her fedora to give his own lecture to her chameleon.

"Even Jacine has an unrelenting tutor," said Tsunade, watching the two chameleons chatter in their own language. "Her lock-pick was fine, why is Leon complaining?"

"Leon says that it was only customized to deal with the latest handcuff model," said Reborn, knowing that Tsunade could follow the conversation on her own anyway. "If the Interpol wasn't so intent on staying up to date, Jacine may have used precious time changing that pick into the right one." He turned his attention back to Tsunade. "A hitman must have the right tools to accomplish their goal, but a weapon is only as good as its wielder."

"Yeah, yeah," said Tsunade with a sigh. "Rules number 54 and 55 to being a successful hitman. You should write a book."

"How do you know I haven't?" replied Reborn, flipping the auto-pilot off and taking the controls.

Tsunade thought about it for a second before realizing he was messing with her. Narrowing her eyes, she sat in the seat next to Reborn, muttering something about tutors and their strange sense of humor.

"We'll be taking a plane from the Vongola secret airport to Japan since they'll be on the lookout for us in normal airports," said Reborn, pretending not to hear her, steering the helicopter towards the airport. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Will we be staying with Tsuna again?" asked Tsunade.

"No, it turns out I have a large property in the countryside," replied Reborn.

Tsunade blinked in disbelief. "Wait, you own a place in Japan?" she said. "Why did we stay in Tsuna's house every time we've been in Japan then?"

"I forgot," he said flatly.

"You forgot you own a mansion," said Tsunade incredulously.

"It's hard to remember every single gigantic house your parents give you trying to bribe you to inherit the company and marry some rich spoiled girl," said Reborn. "We're here."

Tsunade nodded and grabbed her formerly confiscated things that Reborn had taken back and her fedora where Leon was still reprimanding Jacine, noticing Reborn's subtle bitter tone. She knew about his current relations with his parents from previous run-ins and torrid letters from his numerous 'fiancés'. In fact, she had learned a lot in her years under his wing. As they boarded the plane, Tsunade thought back on the 9 years she spent travelling with the hitman.

* * *

It wasn't easy at first. As Dino and Tsuna could testify to, Reborn's teaching methods were bordering on _insane_. Whether it was flinging throwing knives that would narrowly miss to test her reflexes, or signing her up without her consent for possibly illegal fighting competitions, Reborn always seemed to have something up his sleeve to teach her a new lesson. In addition to his relentless training, she also had to put up with the gossip that swirled around her training with Reborn. When everyone heard Reborn had taken a street urchin as his next student, they couldn't help but look down on her and shoot her sympathetic glances. Even as the Vongola Decimo's sister, everyone still saw her as a charity case, someone who guilt-tripped people into taking her in.

After a few months, Tsunade began to feel that way too.

Depressed and discouraged, her level of improvement began to suffer. Her heart just wasn't into her training. Noticing this, Reborn decided something had to be done.

* * *

_On a mission to Amsterdam, Tsunade was returning from a trip to the nearest shop for supplies. She was busy reviewing her Dutch just in case Reborn decided to give her a pop quiz that included explosives (her English was a lot better after the last pop quiz in America) when she noticed the presence of several hostile people within the apartment. In a flash, Tsunade was analyzing the amount of weapons she had with her, cursing when she realized she only had a few throwing knives, and the approximate number of men in the room. Though she had doubts about taking them on, she realized that if they continued to search the place, they could uncover sensitive information. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door, pretending to be oblivious to the people silently advancing on her. When one got close enough, she grabbed his hand and flipped him over her shoulder, knocking him out against the table. Suddenly, all her training fell into place as she continued to dodge what seemed to be slow and clumsy blows and return twice the damage. After she hooked her leg around the last man's knee and brought him crashing into the ground, she spun around to hear slow clapping from her tutor who was sitting in the corner. _

"_Reborn?!" she said, shocked. "What are you doing there?!" Noticing the ropes on the floor next to him, her mouth fell open. "They captured you?!"_

"_I __let_ _them capture me," corrected Reborn, dusting himself off. "After I leaked our location to them, I pretended to be knocked out."_

"_Why would you tell them our location?" asked Tsunade. Then, noticing Reborn had fallen asleep on the spot, she shook him urgently and said, "Wake up! How could you fall asleep after pretending to be knocked out?!"_

_Ignoring Tsunade, Reborn stood up and began walking over to the shelf on the other side of the room. Tsunade kept following him, continuing to bombard him with confused and angry questions, until Reborn handed a box to her._

"_What's this?" asked Tsunade, eyeing the box suspiciously._

"_Just open it," said Reborn with a sigh, crossing his arms._

_Tsunade carefully pulled the ribbon in case it was a trigger to an explosive, but she gasped when the wrapping paper fell away to reveal a female chameleon that was slightly smaller than Leon._

"_It's been a year since the day I found you and you agreed to be my student," said Reborn as Tsunade continued to gape at the chameleon. "It just turns out that an old friend of Leon's found another specialized animal that needed a partner, and we knew just who needed one. Rules number 54 and 55, a hitman must have the right tools to accomplish their goal, but a weapon is only as good as its wielder. Her name is Jacine, and I believe you're ready for such a strong weapon."_

_Reborn began to walk away, but then he paused and looked Tsunade straight in the eye. _

"_I trusted you enough to take down all those henchmen because I knew you were capable of it," he said seriously. "You told me you weren't going to settle for second-best, so don't let some gossip hold you back, or you're no student of mine."_

_Tsunade nodded, and Reborn's lips curled into a half-smile. "Good, now pack up, we need to leave; this location is compromised."_

* * *

After that day, Tsunade worked harder than ever, learning new skills and passing her normal educational lessons in half the time. She received her high school diploma at eleven years old, and with her quick improvement rate, she became known as one of Tsuna's most trusted assassins, along with Reborn, of course.

Still, she wished for a chance to prove herself, and that chance came when Tsuna arranged the first ever Vongola Hitman Competition; a contest that would take place every four years meant to replace the tension formerly between the famiglias.

Each famiglia in the Alliance would send two hitman to compete, and since every Vongola mafioso knew Reborn pretty much owned one of the spots, a minor competition was organized to decide who got the last one. With the exception of the Vongola Decimo and his guardians, pretty much everyone was competing, including Tsunade. On the day of the competition, it seemed like the gossip had increased ten-fold, money trading hands as everyone placed bets on the hitman competing. Some mafiosos had laughed when Tsuna, his guardians, and Reborn, (who were all aware of what Tsunade was capable of), placed a ton of money on Tsunade, but they abruptly shut up when she defeated everyone in the Grand Coliseum in a matter of minutes, emerging without a scratch. Tsunade immediately gained the respect of the Vongola famiglia, and she and Reborn were sent to Italy for the official competition.

Of course, though Tsunade was now a Vongola celebrity, she still was scorned by other famiglias. The Chiavarone, Giglio Nero, and Shimon family treated her kindly, but others tried sabotaging her, attempts that ended in multiple people severely injured and shoved in closets. Among these famiglias was the Yakuza Coalition, whose representatives included the son of the North Yakuza boss himself, Roumi Sakamoto, and his tutor, the great Demon Eyes of the South Yakuza. Although talented, he was already a womanizer at the age of 14 and treated his subordinates and anyone he viewed as inferior like trash. He openly looked down on Tsunade with disdain and tried to flirt with her, saying that was the only thing street scum like her were good for. When Reborn had to hold her back from beating him into a pulp, Sakamoto even had the nerve to scoff at Reborn because of his reduced age. Reborn finally managed to pull her away and told her in a furious tone that she better make him pay when she made it to the finals of the student division.

The two finalists were, to no one's surprise, Sakamoto, and to the surprise of many, Tsunade. Before they started, Sakamoto was brimming with confidence with a smug smile plastered on his face. He taunted her, saying she should return to her proper place on the streets and maybe he would visit her from time to time for some fun.

When Tsunade defeated him in one carefully placed blow to the neck, it wiped the smirk right off Sakamoto's face.

Reborn had easily swept the full hitman division without really trying, infuriating the Yakuza Coalition. They tried to start a riot, but they were quickly stamped out by the combined forces of the other famiglias who came to really admire the Vongola team. When the team competition reached its peak, nearly everyone was cheering for Tsunade and Reborn, and after wiping the floor with Sakamoto and Demon Eyes, they became the first and youngest team to win the Vongola Hitman Competition.

* * *

Since the rules stated that the same team couldn't compete twice in a row, Tsunade continued learning from Reborn, travelling the world together. She soon got used to Reborn's ridiculous teaching methods and his multiple 'fiancés' that seemed to follow them whenever they stayed in one of his parent's houses. In addition to Reborn's admirers, it seemed the Tsunade had gained quite a few of her own. During a rare occurrence where both Tsunade and Reborn were the same age at 15 at the same time, the official age in the mafia society where teenagers were considered eligible for marriage, Tsuna's house, which is where they were staying at during that time, was assaulted with hopeful suitors and piles of love letters. While Tsunade gaped at the amount of people outside, Reborn simply chuckled and said, "You shouldn't be very surprised; as the direct family of the Vongola Decimo and an extremely powerful hitman, a marriage with you would bring a lot of power to the other famiglia."

However, at the end of the day, Tsunade had to politely (and in some cases, forcefully) turn them all down, just as Reborn had done, because of her latest lesson from him.

"Rule number 78 to being a successful hitman," he had said while glaring at the hordes of people to scare them away, "Personal feelings must not intermingle with your profession, in case they become a hindrance."

Tsunade understood that the life of a hitman was a lonely one. She had allies and friends (one of which, surprisingly, was Sakamoto, who had shown up one day to profusely apologize for his rude behavior. Though Tsunade had doubted him at first, a quick scan of his aura showed that he was sincere, and she had forgiven him in hopes of strengthening the uneasy bonds between the Yakuza Coalition and the Vongola and changing his behavior), but her feelings never went beyond that.

There were some things forbidden to a hitman to learn, and she acknowledged that love was one of them.

* * *

Soon, Tsunade had learned more than one would've thought she could've. Some people began calling her the next Reborn, and with her similar appearance, skill set, success rate and her adoption of Reborn's old greeting, it really seemed that way. Tsunade had learned many things that were thought to be lost, including the ability to direct her body's attention to healing certain parts of her body, or temporarily numbing parts that became a burden. She had received a Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics, and while pursuing her Master's, she could already accurately calculate the trajectory of a bullet and its starting location in two seconds (though Reborn still beat her to it by 1.2 seconds).

Tsunade had accomplished and learned a lot, and now, her ten years as a student were coming to a close.

* * *

**Somewhere in the countryside of Japan…**

"Reborn, when you said you had a mansion," said Tsunade in awe. "I never expected it to be nearly as big as this!"

Tsunade had been surprised when Reborn said he had a chauffeur pick them up at the airport ("I don't want to rent a vehicle if I have some at the property," he had explained. "Besides, my so-called parents hired a whole mob of house staff without my consent, and after relocating them to other various jobs somewhere else, I kept the chauffeur since my parents promised to stop bribing me for a whole year."), but seeing the mansion itself made her jaw drop to the ground.

An elegant Western design, the main house had four wings and three grand chambers. There were a total of two master bedrooms and an extra eight smaller guest bedrooms per wing. Everything was made with only the finest materials, and the only words that could be used to describe it as a whole were 'breathtakingly elegant'.

Though the house was huge, it only took up about 1.5 acres of the entire 75 acre property. Beyond it were many fields and other minor houses, some of which Reborn had made good money from renting them out to farmers and other small business owners.

"Because of how enormous the property is, dame-Tsuna decided that the Vongola Hitman Competition will be held here this year," said Reborn resentfully, as if he was annoyed by the building already. "There'll be contractors and workers over on the fields later, and both the pre- and post- party will be hosted in the main house."

Tsunade nodded. She and Reborn had already easily passed the preliminary contest to become the Vongola representatives for the 3rd Vongola Hitman Competition that would take place in a week. Soon, people would be gathering to both watch and compete.

Reborn began walking over to the entrance. "We'll be staying in the Upper West wing master bedrooms," he said. "Go put your stuff upstairs and then meet me in the study room downstairs for your mathematics review before we meet up with Tsuna."

"Oh great, more reviews," cursed Tsunade under her breath. She would be taking her final exam for her Master's Degree in a few days, and Reborn had been piling more and more work to prepare her for it. Though it wasn't very difficult for her, it was extremely tedious and time-consuming, and she would much rather do something else.

Reborn abruptly stopped walking and looked back at Tsunade with a dangerous glint in his eyes. Tsunade's blood ran cold.

'_Dammit, he heard me,' _she thought in horror.

"So you think you have better things to do?" asked Reborn, his voice eerily calm. Before Tsunade could respond, Reborn cocked his head to the side, thinking. "You know, I replaced the entire Eastern wings with a new training center. Why don't we test your judgment against mine in there?"

"You mean, me, _spar_? Against you?" stammered Tsunade incredulously.

"That's right," said Reborn calmly. "Whoever wins will get to decide what to do in the hour before we meet Tsuna. I'll see you in the training center, and you better be prepared."

Tsunade could only stare in panic.

'_I'm dead.'_

* * *

**A/N: Well that was interesting. I'm still travelling, so I'll try to type whenever I can :P. HUUUGGGEE THANKS to **_**inarachi01**_**, **_**smileysparklea**_**, **_**Lite Crystal27 **_**for reviewing!**

**Please READ and REVIEW xD!**


	5. Chapter 2: Battles of Two Kinds

**A/N: My free time seemed to disappear as soon as school started, and so that is my flimsy excuse as to why I haven't updated lately =_=. Eh, anyway, try to refrain from killing me for my tardiness and enjoy the chapter instead!**

* * *

Tsunade carefully stretched her muscles and tried to relax and concentrate. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't easy when every possible synonym for 'certain death' was running through her head.

'_Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut?' _she thought miserably, rechecking her weapons for the third time. '_I could've easily finished the worksheets and then continued reviewing my Arabic. Instead, I'm here wishing I updated my will before I came to Japan.'_

She watched Reborn who was standing on the other side of the arena, doing the exact same warm-ups she was going through. He had taught them to her, after all. In fact, everything she knew was taught to her by Reborn, putting her at a disadvantage.

'_How am I supposed to fight someone who knows my techniques better than I do?'_ she thought, a shiver running down her back. Finally, the calming exercises she was doing seemed to kick in, and her nerves settled down enough for her to focus.

'_Rule number 14, if you don't have an advantage, create one,' _she thought, a buzz of excitement replacing her previous panic. '_I've been developing a few techniques of my own that Reborn hasn't seen yet, and I've been dying to try them out.'_

"First one to knock the other out or be in a position to deliver a fatal blow will win," shouted Reborn from the other side of the training field. "You ready?"

Tsunade nodded grimly. "As ready as I'll ever be."

With a slight smile, Reborn pointed his Leon-gun into the air and fired the starting shot.

The moment the loud 'bang' reached her ears, Tsunade leaped up into the air and pushed off the walls in a fashion that made her seem as if she was running on them, all while shooting as accurately as she could at her tutor. Reborn mirrored her movements, staying on the complete other side of her while coolly firing back. If there were any spectators watching this amazing battle between the two greatest hitman in the world, they would only be able to see two blurs and hear a loud cacophony of sound as bullets hit the opposite wall and shells hit the ground.

They maintained this game of circling around each other for a few minutes until Reborn suddenly lurched forward with a burst of speed, putting him behind Tsunade rather than across from her. This move happened so quickly that she barely was able jerk her head swiftly to the side in order to dodge the incoming bullet, feeling a sting of pain when it barely grazed the tip of her ear. Swearing loudly, she jumped up and pushed off the next pole harder to gain distance, sacrificing a few hastily shot bullets in order to keep Reborn back.

Tsunade carefully maintained her distance after that.

After she fired off the remaining bullets in her fourth reserve .22 caliber pistol, she saw that Jacine hadn't changed back into a gun and Tsunade realized that that meant she was out of bullets. Even with her multiple backup stocks hidden all throughout her outfit that Jacine would retrieve once she was out, this arduous battle had quickly bled her supply dry. Based off the sudden silence behind her, she could tell Reborn had run into the same dilemma. However, Tsunade only had time to tell Jacine to start creating more bullets before quickly bringing up an arm to stop Reborn's punch. She jumped back with a pained expression on her face.

'_He doesn't even let up after our primary weapons are exhausted?' _she thought, exasperated, noticing that Leon had gone into his weapon-creating mode as well.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to avoid him, she leaped forward to meet Reborn in hand-to-hand combat. Both hitman had a thorough knowledge of pressure points throughout the body, ranging from points that could cause instant death, to the ones that would just put someone to a peaceful slumber. Though Tsunade's strength was impressive for her small frame, knocking someone out with brute strength wasn't easy, and it wasn't like Reborn would give her such a wide opening anyway. Because of that, Reborn had trained her to use the opponent's moves against them, and she intended to do just that.

They traded blows in such fluid motions that it seemed like they were going through the moves of a complex dance. Tsunade used Reborn's momentum from an incoming blow to flip him up over her shoulder and he barely managed to land jarringly in a crouched position. However, Reborn didn't even need a split-second to recover as he swept his leg in a half-circle, knocking Tsunade off her feet. She managed to bring her knees up to her chest and roll backwards with the impact, though she still winced when she hit the ground. Tsunade planted her feet into the ground to stop her movement, but she had to roll to the side to dodge Reborn's flying kick aimed at her head. Reborn skidded to a stop several feet behind her, giving her just enough time to pull out two throwing knives from the inside of her blazer. With a quick flick of her wrist, she flung them at Reborn, forcing him to jump to avoid them. However, just barely before he reacted, Tsunade had thrown the rest of her slender blades at the places she already calculated he could possibly land. Some part of her found it slightly amusing that she was using her mathematical skills during a battle that was started because she didn't want to do her daily practice, but her sharp eyes were too busy analyzing the path of the knives to care about such a trivial thing. As expected, most of the blades missed, but two managed to follow Reborn's sharp leap to the right. Aimed at the proper places, those small knives could take out anyone of any size. Reborn didn't let the knives hit those points, of course, but they still managed slice the side of his face and his arm, drawing blood.

'_I hit him?!' _thought Tsunade in shock. '_I actually managed to hit him?!'_

Tsunade pulled herself out of her amazement when Reborn closed the distance between them with astonishing speed, his fist glancing off her shoulder. They resumed their dance of carefully and quickly delivered punches and kicks. The few blows that didn't miss just glanced off the other, causing no more damage than a slight sting and maybe a small bruise. To the two hitman, these blows were as annoying as constant mosquito bites. Tsunade had just executed an impressive spinning roundhouse kick when she felt a shift of weight on her fedora, signaling that Jacine had finished her bullet production. She looked up and smiled slightly when she saw Leon was changing back, meaning the Jacine had completed task just a split-second before Leon did.

The student and mentor jumped apart, taking only a few seconds to reload. Just after Tsunade had finished though, she felt a tingling on the back of her throat and saw a slight blur in the edge of her vision. Tsunade swore. There was only one thing that these symptoms added up to, and that, was the production of Flames.

'_He's gearing up for a Chaos Shot,' _realized Tsunade. A single hit from any one of Reborn's Sun Flames would be an instant end to the spar, and no one, not even her brother, was able to dodge it.

However, Tsunade had one more trick up her sleeve that Reborn didn't know about because she had been developing it in secret.

'_Hopefully,' _she thought, pulling out the deck of cards that had been confiscated just a few hours ago, '_this will give me the advantage I need.'_

* * *

The Interpol agents thought Tsunade had been mocking them when she gave them her cards. However, other than Jacine, her deck was the most dangerous weapon she possessed. The day she received Jacine was also the day she reached the 'turning point' in her training. Leon had gone into his cocoon form and created a pack of cards the day when the Vongola Hitman Competition was announced. Reborn didn't seem surprised for some reason, but neither of them knew the full capabilities of the cards. Nevertheless, Reborn decided that was the perfect time to start her training in the gambling world: playing her cards smartly, reading both physical and emotional tells, how much to bet and what to do to lure the other players into betting all they have, and of course, how to fling cards with deadly accuracy. Tsunade was able to slice neatly through an apple –and embed one into a few bones—with one of these cards within a week. It was obvious the cards weren't made of the normal flimsy plastic, and the foreign thin metal material that was capable of self-replacing its missing counterparts intrigued her.

She was doing her usual practices with the cards when she discovered the secret of the cards. Tsunade was multitasking that day: one hand trying master control of her Sky Flames while the other was flinging cards at the dart board. She wasn't great at the latter yet, and as a result, her other hand holding the cards flared up as well. Her initial panic quickly dissolved to curiosity when she saw the cards weren't melting and were actually conducting the Flames. After a few experiments, she found out that the Flames enhanced the power of the cards, a few going straight through the board, and that if she hit a flaming card with another, the flames would cancel out and leave just the cards.

* * *

'_No one can dodge a Chaos shot,' _thought Tsunade, drawing up Flames into her hands and into the cards, '_so why not cancel them out?'_

Tsunade's main affinity lied in Sky Flames, but she had just a bit for Sun Flames after being around Reborn for so long. She mixed in just enough of Sun Flames to cancel out the incoming ones from Reborn, and carefully pinching a card between her fingers, she got ready to react.

The Flames burst out of the dust cloud they had stirred up, and Tsunade jumped up, throwing the cards so quickly that her hands were a blur. Much to her delight, Tsunade's theory was quickly proven correct when the Flames she hit dissipated as soon as the cards made contact. The Chaos shot kept splitting into more, but Tsunade's cards reappeared just as fast. Finally, the last of the flames disappeared, and Tsunade landed on the ground, breathing heavily. The smoke that had been created as a byproduct of the cancellation now filled the room, and taking advantage of this, Tsunade jumped straight in towards where Reborn had been.

Unfortunately, an unclear field was a disadvantage to Tsunade seeing how her enemy could hide from her supernatural skills. Still, the same thing applied to Reborn, and she thought her evasive maneuvers would last long enough for her to figure out his location.

That is, until a black combat boot came in contact with her back and sent her sprawling to the ground.

Tsunade groaned and looked up to see a gun aimed right at her head.

"Game over," said Reborn with a smirk.

As the adrenaline wore off, Tsunade sighed and stood up, dusting herself off.

"It was the disturbance in the cloud every time you hit the ground that gave you away," said Reborn smugly. "With that, I could figure out what direction you were going and where to intercept you. You'll have to do better than that to beat me."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," grumbled Tsunade. "Until the day when I can beat you, I'll just have to accept your judgment over mine."

"That's right," said Reborn, folding his arms across his chest in satisfaction. "I have to admit though, I was impressed by your ingenious solution to cancelling out my Chaos shot. Your reflexes with the knives were very remarkable as well."

Praise was not something Reborn usually gave, and so Tsunade was pretty surprised when she received it after a defeat on her part. Something inside of her twitched, and she felt her face begin to heat up. Tsunade quickly relaxed her heartbeat so the blood would stop rushing to her face, and she was left puzzled.

'_That was an odd reaction,' _she thought to herself. '_I've never reacted like that before, have I?'_

Reborn seemed like he was going to say more, but a loud 'ring' resounded through the house at that moment.

"There's someone at the door," announced Reborn aloud, not taking a single step towards the front of the house. After a brief second, Tsunade sighed and began walking towards the door. "Of course I'm the one to go answer the door when I barely remember the floor plan of the house," she muttered.

* * *

When she finally found the front door, a grin spread on her face as she recognized the aura behind it. Tsunade opened it up wide and revealed a black-haired young man about her age flashing a bright white smile, holding a lovely bouquet of red roses. His ice-blue eyes, though they could be cruel and mocking at times, were currently dancing with warmth and happiness.

"I wanted to show these roses what true beauty looks like," said Roumi Sakamoto with a grin.

Tsunade accepted the roses gratefully. "Aw, Sakamoto," she said. "You shouldn't have."

"Why wouldn't I for such a lovely young lady such as yourself?" said Sakamoto, flashing his award-winning smile again.

To any other woman in the world, Sakamoto and his words would've made them swoon by now. However, Tsunade was far from the norm, and she simply smiled at such a kind gesture from a friend.

"You know the party isn't until next week, right?" she asked teasingly.

"Ah yes, but I wanted to see your pretty face the moment you arrived back in my home country," said Sakamoto, leaning against the door frame, "That, and I also wanted to invite you out to lunch tomorrow. There are a few things I'd like to discuss with you."

Tsunade thought about it for a second, tilting her head to the side. '_I haven't seen Sakamoto in a while,' _she thought. '_It would be great to catch up with him and gain the latest intel of what's going on in Japan. Also, Reborn said tomorrow would be a self-training day, so I can spare an hour or two for lunch.'_

"Sure, I'd love to go out for lunch," she replied.

"Great, I'll pick you up at 11:45 tomorrow morning," said Sakamoto smoothly. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," said Tsunade, closing the door. After making sure the door was securely locked, she turned around and saw Reborn standing in the hallway, his face dangerously blank.

"Who was that?" he said in a calm voice that seemed to hide something else.

"Roumi Sakamoto, the son of the North Yakuza Faction oyabun," said Tsunade, slightly confused with his tone. "He was just inviting me to lunch tomorrow."

"And you said yes without consulting me first?"

"Well, yeah." Tsunade looked at Reborn curiously, noticing his body language was slightly hostile. "Tomorrow is a self-training day, so I thought it would be fine if I left for few hours" '_Is he still mad about Sakamoto's previous jibe? Reborn can hold a grudge for a long time.'_

Reborn stared at Tsunade for a moment longer before abruptly bringing up his Leon-gun and shooting the roses with a Sun Flame. Tsunade swore and dropped the roses quickly, stomping on them to put them out.

"What was that for?!" she yelled furiously.

"I'm allergic to roses."

"Since when?!"

"Since _Sakamoto _gave them to you," said Reborn coldly.

Tsunade was opened her mouth to argue, but she abruptly stopped when she noticed blood dripping down the side of Reborn's face. She was suddenly seized by guilt and before she knew what she was doing, Tsunade had walked over to Reborn and gently touched the cut.

"Are you ok?" she said, concerned. It felt as if a sudden spark had flared up between the point of contact , sending short burst of warmth throughout Tsunade. Reborn jerked his head away, and the warmth was gone as fast as it had come, leaving Tsunade oddly empty and confused.

"I'm fine," Reborn said stiffly, turning around so that Tsunade couldn't see his expression. "There are only twenty minutes left before we have to meet Tsuna, so you might as well go get some of your work done before we leave."

As Reborn walked away, Tsunade felt a dull pain in her head that made her wince. Thanks to the silver metal band around her wrist, her migraines had subsided into just a minor ache. However, as the years passed, she found that the rate of her head pains had increased considerably. At first, Tsunade had been concerned that they could be a sign of a serious medical problem, but both Yuni and Shamal (who had been beaten to a pulp right after her first—and last—appointment with him) had confirmed that her aches didn't affect her body in any way.

Tsunade studied the blood on her hand curiously. She found herself wondering about who she really was once again, and what all her special skills meant. Between her unusually strong affinity for the rare Sky Flames, and the headaches that always left her feeling like she was forgetting something, it was obvious she was more than a random orphan.

Tsunade often complained that Reborn was extremely complicated and confusing, but compared to him, she was as perplexing and mysterious as the bottom of the sea.

* * *

**A/N: Well that was exciting. This story does move at a **_**slightly **_**faster pace than my first one, so I hope you guys don't mind. Let me just say, I am SO SO SOOOO thankful for the many reviews I received for the last chapter! I was VERY happy and I've spent more time thinking about the story, adding complicated twists and turns that'll most definitely make this story very interesting as a result of your support! Thanks SO VERY MUCH to **_**kari**_**, **_**natachoco**_**, **_**Reika24**_**, **_**Kiera Vincent**_**, **_**smileysparklea**_**, and **_**Lite Crystal27 **_**for reviewing!**

**READ AND REVIEW PWEASE!**


	6. Chapter 3: The Famiglia

**A/N: Ahahahaha here it is, the next chapter. This is sorta a fun and a **_**bit **_**of a filler chapter, but important nonetheless. Enjoy :P!**

* * *

**Vongola Head Base: Japan Division**

Vongola Decimo was a name both feared and revered throughout the criminal world. His power and authority pulled the strongest mafia famiglias and their weaker allies into an alliance that unified them all under one cause. He was as legendary as his predecessor, Vongola Primo, and the Decimo had completed Primo's dream of restoring the mafia to its original position as 'Guardians of the People'. The Decimo was most powerful man in the world—

So why was he sitting at a worn out desk rifling through mail and paperwork?

"Proposal, proposal, proposal," said Tsuna miserably while he threw letter after letter into the growing trash pile. "A letter that claims it has urgent information—that is a proposal in disguise?"

Tsuna slammed that letter into the pile and glared at it in disgust.

'_When Tsunade asked me to take care of her mail for her, I never expected her persistent suitors to be encouraged to send more marriage requests,' _he thought miserably. Even as that thought passed through his head, he knew that the increase in proposals had been inevitable. As her brother and boss, Tsuna had the power to arrange a politically advantageous marriage for Tsunade—not that he would ever dream of doing so.

Tsuna sighed and put down the weapons contract he had been reading, tracing a deep groove on his table that had been made nearly a decade ago.

'_There's no way I can pair up my hot-tempered, dangerous, homicidal sister with just anyone,' _he thought, his mind wandering to the past.

* * *

_When Iemitsu had announced his adoption of a hapless orphan and sent her off to 'train' with Reborn, his direct family had some mixed reactions. Nana, as usual, was delighted to have a daughter in the family. Tsuna, on the other hand, thought his No-good father either wanted to make up for his lost years of fatherhood by adopting another child, or he was going insane because of his decision to send her off with Reborn. _

_Either way, Tsuna didn't want anything to do with his 'sister' since he already had a lot on his plate, bringing the mafia famiglias under one cause and all. However, he should've known he couldn't avoid her forever, because where his sadistic tutor goes, so does the unfortunate student._

_A few days after the Vongola Hitman Competition was announced, Tsuna had been busy with the large stack of paperwork that came with the organization of the contest. After many mugs of coffee, cups of tea, and hours of tirelessly reading and signing papers, Tsuna finally got the stack of papers to a manageable pile—when something came flying through the window and kicked Tsuna in the face._

_Usually, Tsuna would've been up and about in no time, Sky Flames blazing, searching for the possible threat. However, he had been kicked in the face enough times by that boot to recognize who it was. _

"_Cha-os," said 10-year old Reborn, who was just regaining the voice necessary for his old greeting. "I see you still leave the window wide open to outside threats. Haven't I taught you anything, dame-Tsuna?"_

_Tsuna groaned and sat up. "Only you would be able to get past the security perimeter outside to get close enough to barge through the window," he said, staring desolately at his papers that were now mixed up and drifting silently to the ground. "Those guards were hand-picked through special trials set up by me and my guardians."_

"_Oh, I didn't even have to defeat the guards," said Reborn, leaning smugly against the wall, as if he knew something Tsuna should. "However, you'll still find them unconscious and restrained in Building 4."_

'_Wait, only Reborn has the power to take out my guards,' thought Tsuna, confused. 'But if he didn't touch them, then who—'_

_Before Tsuna could finish that thought, something came flying out of nowhere straight towards Tsuna. He barely managed to jump out of the way, and the unidentified object embedded itself in the table with a 'thunk'. Taking a closer look at the object, Tsuna realized it was—a playing card?_

"_Looks like Reborn severely downplayed your abilities," said a voice in the corner. Tsuna spun around to face a figure of small stature in the corner, wearing a red fedora that covered her eyes. "If you were really as bad as Reborn thought you were, you would be bleeding to death right now."_

_While Tsuna gaped at her, the figure looked up to reveal a pair of stunning green eyes. "Think of a card, any card," she said, chuckling a bit. "Then take out the card in the table."_

_Nodding numbly, Tsuna pulled out the card and was shocked to see that it was the seven of spades—the exact same card that had popped into his head when she asked him to think of a card._

"_How did you—" he stammered, gesturing back and forth between the figure and the card. "When did you—" Tsuna took in a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down. "Who are you?" he finally asked._

_The figure stood up straight and extended a black gloved hand. "Ciaossu, my name is Sawada Tsunade," she said, smiling slightly. "Nice to see you, onii-chan."_

_The moment she said that, Tsuna felt a burst of affection for her. It startled him since he hadn't really cared much about his adopted sister or what happened to her, other than a little pity for being Reborn's student. However, seeing her for the first time, he couldn't imagine being anything but her brother._

_This reaction confused him, and he flinched as a wave of pain coursed through his head. Tsuna noticed that, though her reaction was much smaller, Tsunade had winced at the same time he did. It was then that Tsuna realized they both were more closely connected than they had originally thought. Looking into Tsunade's intelligent eyes, he knew she was thinking exactly same thing._

_Tsuna would be staying in contact with his sister from now on._

_He grasped her hand firmly. "It's nice to finally see you too, Tsunade-chan."_

* * *

Tsuna sighed again. Ever since then, he had been keeping tabs on Tsunade and Reborn, checking in on them every time they needed or completed a mission. There was something connecting him and Tsunade other than their eerily similar appearances that he couldn't quite place. All mysteries aside, he did care deeply about his sister, and he wanted to grant her the happiness that he knew she wouldn't receive in an arranged marriage. At the same time, Tsuna worried that she would become a workaholic like Reborn, and the idea of a second Reborn him shudder.

While preoccupied with his thoughts, a tiny bird landed on the window and began to chirp. Tsuna smiled and turned his attention to the bird's song, relieved for such a normal thing to interrupt his insane routine. Sometimes, it was nice just to look at the bright blue sky, smell the fresh air, feel the cool breeze, hear the tickings of a bomb as it flew closer…

'_Wait WHAT?!'_

Tsuna dove away from the window and under the table just as the bomb detonated, shattering the glass and sending smoke and papers flying everywhere. He peeked over the edge of the table, coughing and waving the smoke away. Two voices spoke out from within the smokescreen.

"Chaos, dame-Tsuna."

"Ciaossu, Tsuna-nii."

"Did you guys really have to blow up the window?" said Tsuna, staring at his former tutor and his sister in exasperation.

"It's not our fault your guards are so negligent in their duties," said Reborn flatly.

"They should've checked us for explosives before we entered the property," said Tsunade with a shrug.

"Did you even let them search you?" said Tsuna skeptically.

There was a brief pause before Tsunade and Reborn answered simultaneously, "No."

Tsuna sighed and picked up his overturned chair, wiping off the glass shards. "Well, you're here, even though I would've preferred it if you entered through the door like everyone else," he said, sitting down. "Let's hear your report."

"Zhao was a huge part of the current illegal weapon-dealing ring that is quickly spreading," said Tsunade. "Even so, he obviously wasn't one of the ringleaders, just a sort of 'middle man' to the dealings. He dealt to several countries, including Pakistan, China, the United States, Italy, France, and Iraq."

"That expands the range of the ring to about 38 countries," continued Reborn. "If this goes on, any minor riot could become lethal if everyone is armed with machine guns."

"Lucky for us, I managed to get the name of Zhao's boss out of him before he had to be—disposed of," said Tsunade, passing Tsuna the file. "His name is Rino Kanuki, head of the Rino Corporation. They deal in the international stock market and, according to Zhao, more illegal weaponry. I did some research and it turns out the he is conveniently staying in a hotel and casino not far from here."

Tsuna nodded seriously. "This Rino character probably is closer to the core of this operation and might help us get closer to the person in charge. According to our covert operatives, there have already been several operations planned by rogue groups using weapons acquired through this weapon-dealing ring. Most of them have been foiled, but we can only do so much before one operation succeeds. Let's see…"

He leaned forward and opened up his laptop that had miraculously survived the blast. "Ah, here we go," he said, clicking through a few files. "Tsunade, you will be Kanoki Mizuki, rich heiress to Puraisu Resu Jewelers. The company has allegedly been illegally smuggling priceless jewels and staging false robberies for insurance money, and both scams could use a few high powered fire arms."

"How about his personal body guards?" asked Reborn.

"I was just getting around to that," said Tsuna, sighing at how impatient Reborn was. "Seems like Rino-san is far from possessing clean morals. Though most of his men are hired thugs, the ones that need to be watched are all, well, female. Unlike Tsunade, their expertise lies less in direct combat and more in deadly seduction. Obviously this employment speaks volumes about Rino's character."

"I wonder if they take their payment in cash or in bed," muttered Tsunade darkly, openly voicing her opinion of hitman in that line of work. **(A/N: Ok, just saying, this line made me laugh when I reread it xD.)**

"Anyway, that's where Naniko Tomoko, young—and wealthy—owner of the grand Naniko Marketing Franchise," said Tsuna. "People like him are like candy to Rino's bodyguards, and once Reborn catches the attention of the three of them, they'll be buzzing around him light moths around a light. Go to Building 6 for wardrobe and any other materials for your cover ID's."

"Got it, dame-Tsuna," said Reborn. "One thing: you mind moving us to Building 3? We returned our old ID's before we came, and I think they're still in lock down because we shut down the security system."

Tsuna stared at them in disbelief for a second before shaking his head. "I don't even—never mind," he said wearily. "Fine, Building 3."

Just as Tsuna said it, a silver haired man with a cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth, burst into the room.

"Juudaime!" shouted Gokudera frantically. "Someone broke into Building 6 and I heard an explosion up here so I rushed over and—" Gokudera abruptly stopped talking to when he saw Tsunade.

'_And this is why I didn't want you two to attract so much attention to yourselves,' _thought Tsuna unhappily, observing the glares Gokudera was now sending Tsunade's way.

"You!" Gokudera yelled, pointing at Tsunade. "Why is the Black Rose brat here?"

Tsunade looked Gokudera up and down for a second before responding. "Oh, it's you, Baka-dera," she said coolly, using the name that she had picked up from Lambo the first time she was introduced to the guardians. "Need help with the accounting again?"

Gokudera bristled. "I should've known you were behind today's security breaches," he growled. "Though you're the Juudaime's sister, you're still nothing but trouble!"

Behind Gokudera, the door flew off its hinges, revealing two more unhappy guardians that were _a bit _more on the murderous side.

"I will bite you to death, brat," said Hibari, his aggressive stance radiating with murderous intent.

"Kufufufu, looks like today was a great day to return to Japan," said Mukuro, his murderous eyes glinting with malice.

'_Why does everyone have a bone to pick with my sister?' _thought Tsuna, slamming his head into his already beat-up desk. Gokudera was annoyed with her because she had caught a minor mistake in his accounting and embarrassed him during the biannual Vongola meeting, Hibari wanted to fight her because she had matched him in hand-to-hand combat 2 years ago and maybe would've beat him if Reborn hadn't dragged her off at the last minute, and Mukuro was pretty angry that Tsunade was able to look through his best illusions enough to laugh at him and land a blow.

And this wasn't even the most troubling bunch.

"I heard Tsunade-chan is here to the extreme!" shouted Ryohei, bursting into the room. Behind him were Kyoko, Haru _(who both now worked in the Mafia for the Witness Relocation Program) _and Chrome, all smiling happily.

"Our imouto is back in town!" squealed Haru happily.

"You haven't been getting hurt, have you?" asked Kyoko, worried.

"I've been working on new illusions, and I was hoping if you could tell me how real their auras looked," said Chrome softly.

"Let's go brawl to the extreme!" roared Ryohei.

Tsuna couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Tsunade's face pale a bit. Sure, she could handle violent people looking to pick a fight, but when it came to doting girls that saw her as an adorable little sister, well, let's just say last time she was alone with them ended up in several frilly dresses and thousands of dollars in damage.

The room was now filled with chatter as the guys argued who would battle first and the girls tried to get over to check on Tsunade. Usually, Yamamoto would be able to diffuse the situation, but he was currently picking up Lambo from school, leaving Tsuna to his own devices.

"You guys should probably get going," he whispered to Reborn and Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded vigorously. "I want to get back soon because _somebody _just had to fight me to prove he was right," she said, shooting a glare at her tutor. "Because of that, I didn't have any time to review my Arabic."

'_Fight?' _thought Tsuna, confused. It was then that he noticed the bandage on Reborn's face and the way Tsunade winced slightly whenever she moved. His jaw dropped open.

"You fought _Reborn_?!" he asked in astonishment. "And you actually managed to hit him?!"

"She has to beat me someday in order to become a true hitman," said Reborn with a smirk. "But as the bruise on her back shows, dame-Tsunade still has a long way to go."

"You don't have to rub it in," muttered Tsunade, gently touching the tip of her ear that was just starting to develop a scab. "Anyway, bye, Tsuna-nii, good luck with your guardians."

"Thanks," said Tsuna, a bit of affection for his sister bubbling up inside him. "Good luck on your mission, and with your training."

"Oh trust me," said Reborn, a devious grin on his face. "She'll need more than luck."

As the two hitman jumped out the same way they came, he could almost hear his sister thinking about how she'll need all the luck in the world to deal with even half of Reborn's training methods, and he felt bad for her. One year with Reborn was already hell, but ten whole years? It was impressive that Tsunade hadn't gone insane. Even so, she had earned the respect of all his guardians; they wouldn't fight just anyone if they didn't see them as an equal.

As bad as Tsunade had it, Tsuna had his own problems to deal with.

The volume in his office had already increased several decibels in the last few seconds, and tempers were running high. Tsuna began to tell them to calm down, but Gokudera had already snapped and lit a single stick of dynamite, throwing it before realizing what a bad idea it was.

A large explosion came from the office for a second time that day.

Tsuna looked up from his desk, relieved to see no one was hurt. In the doorway stood Yamamoto and Lambo, looking quite confused.

"Did I miss something?" asked Yamamoto.

* * *

**A/N: That was fun~~. Next chapter DEFINITELY will be shorter. How do I know? Because I already wrote it xP. It was going to be part of this chapter, but the word count got WAYYY too high. You can expect it coming up later in the week~~. BIG THANKS to **_**Lite Crystal27**_**, and **_**Drika-Veras**_** for reviewing!**

**Read and Review guys!**


	7. Chapter 4: The Fiancee

**A/N: I'M SORRY! I REALLY MEANT TO UPLOAD THIS EARLIER! It's just that I reread it and became convinced that I just HAD to revise it. Forgive me and read on please!**

* * *

Tsunade sat in a red lounge chair, reading over her fake file while simultaneously translating it to Arabic.

'_At least this gives me good practice,' _she thought, rereading her "childhood". '_Sometimes having an eidetic memory helps a lot.' _

She had already read over the file once in Japanese, committing it to memory instantly. As always, she was amazed at how detailed and complex these Vongola fake personas were. If anyone doubted her backstory or wanted to confirm her identity and researched her, they would find everything necessary from birth certificates to receipts for recent jewelry transactions. There were even a few stores worldwide that were under the name of Puraisou Resu Jewelers, though they were most likely just covers for Vongola safe houses.

In the terms of what defined a living human, Kanoki Mizuki was a true person.

Tsunade had just reached the end of the file when she heard the doorbell ring. '_Two visitors in one day?' _she thought. '_So much for finding peace and quiet in the countryside.'_

Hearing that Reborn was making no move to answer the door, she sighed and stood up, walking over to the front. After she confirmed the aura wasn't hostile, she opened the door and immediately started profiling the stranger.

To any other person, the tall, lean woman would be jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Her beautiful red-orange hair tumbled over her shoulders in glistening, curly waves, her eyes were a light hazel, bordering on green, though they were far from being as emerald as Tsunade's eyes, and her skin was a lovely cream color, accentuating her red lips. Though she looked like she was in her mid-twenties, Tsunade could tell that behind the makeup, she was actually in her low to mid forties. Tsunade quickly took in her exquisite tight silk dress and her expensive diamond jewelry with a critical eye, subconsciously thinking about how troublesome it must be to wear such movement restricting clothing. Everything about this woman screamed rich and pampered, and judging by the way she looked at Tsunade, she obviously didn't have a high opinion of anyway who wasn't of her social standing.

'_This is definitely one of Reborn's fiancées,' _she thought, finishing up her analysis.

"May I help you?" asked Tsunade politely.

"Ah, yes," said the woman in heavily accented Japanese. "Is-ah, your masteir available?"

Tsunade chuckled. '_It must be her accent,' _she thought, amused. '_I could've sworn she said "my master".'_

"_Mi scusi, signora,_" said Tsunade in flawless Italian. "Would you prefer we speak your language? I believe it would make things more understandable."

"_Grazie_," said the woman, though her voice still held an ounce of disdain. "I asked, is your master available.

Now Tsunade frowned. She was certain now that the woman had meant what she said, but it couldn't be right.

"My master?" asked Tsunade, confused.

"Yes," said the rich fiancée impatiently. "Reborn Chaos, you work for him, no?"

'_Ohh, she thinks I'm one of the house staff,' _realized Tsunade, a bit offended. "I'm sorry, you must be mistaken," said Tsunade with a strained smile. "I'm not—"

"Ah, I see," said the woman, cutting her off, the disgust in her gaze increasing. "You're his newest plaything."

Tsunade stared at her in shock. '_Did she just call me a plaything?' _she thought furiously, rage building up quickly. Tsunade was very sensitive and bitter towards people that assumed she was a loose cannon. Starting as a street urchin had exposed Tsunade to many comments like that, and the last person that dared question her morals had ended up dead at the bottom of the Thames River.

This woman had practically signed her death warrant.

Tsunade opened her mouth angrily to reply while reaching in her suit for a throwing knife, but before she could make a move, she heard Reborn's voice from the top of the staircase.

"Oi, dame-Tsunade," he said as he walked out of his room. "Have you gotten ready yet? We're leaving—" Reborn abruptly stopped talking when he saw who was at the door, and how hostile Tsunade looked. "Isabelle?" he said, confused, switching to Italian. "What're you doing here?"

"Reborn, darling!" purred Isabelle, her whole demeanor changing. "I was just talking to your current—distraction."

Tsunade bristled again, and Reborn's confused expression became a cold one as he realized why Tsunade was so upset.

"Tsunade, you should be preparing," he said as he walked down the stairs. "I'll talk to Isabelle for a while."

Tsunade wanted to argue, but Reborn glared at her, signaling that he would handle it. She glared at the woman she now knew was Isabelle on last time before turning away and going upstairs.

'_Reborn actually knows his fiancée this time,'_ thought Tsunade as she went into her room. '_They were all strangers before, but he actually shares a personal connection to this one._

_I wonder how personal?'_

Tsunade felt a dark surge of emotion swirl in her chest as she closed the door behind her. Surprised and curious, she probed at the feeling, trying to determine what it was, and where it stemmed from. It wasn't fiery enough to be anger, but it wasn't deep enough to be sadness. Yet, it mixed with the hatred she already had for Isabelle, making it stronger and more intense. Could it be,

Jealousy?

Tsunade chuckled a bit at the absurdity of the idea. She wasn't jealous. There was no reason to be jealous. She was just fuming that she couldn't deal with Isabelle her way.

Right?

* * *

Reborn stared coldly at Isabelle. Oblivious, Isabelle grabbed Reborn's shoulders and lightly pecked him on both cheeks, not noticing that Reborn didn't return the gesture.

"It's been too long, Reborn!" exclaimed Isabelle. "You're looking well!"

"Why are you here, Isabelle?" said Reborn flatly. "Last I heard you were married to some wealthy duke."

"Unfortunately my dear Francis died of a heart attack earlier this year," she said dramatically. "Of course, I was absolutely heartbroken—"

"Sure doesn't seem like it," muttered Reborn.

"—but I realized he would've wanted me to move on, to be happy," continued Isabelle, apparently not hearing Reborn's side comment. "So, when I heard from your parents that they were still looking for a fiancée for you, I jumped on a plane to Japan right away."

Reborn stared at her for a second before sighing. "I appreciate the concern," he said wearily. "But I have no intention of marrying or playing right into my parents' hands. My job takes up enough of my time."

"Then ditch your job," said Isabelle offhandedly. "You should've had more than enough fun in this mafia game already. Your parents told me that they had already forgiven you for running off and are more than willing to name you the heir of the company. Go back to your _real _famiglia."

"_They _forgave me?" said Reborn incredulously. "Don't they know that maybe _I _haven't forgiven them yet for the psychological abuse they inflicted on me, trying to mold me into someone I obviously wasn't. This _mafia game _isn't only my job. It's my life now, and the Vongola famiglia has cared about me more than my _real _famiglia ever did. Thanks, but no thanks."

Reborn began to close the door, but Isabelle put her hand against it, suddenly desperate.

"Reborn, please," she said pleadingly. "Even if you don't want to consider rejoining your parents, would you at least consider me? Don't you remember what we were, what we should be?"

"That engagement was nothing more than words on a paper," said Reborn. "You were ten, and I was fifteen. Both of us were pawns in the grand chess game our parents played. Whatever feelings you felt were just a result of their psychological manipulation."

"If so, then why do I still feel this way after so many years, after my first marriage?" said Isabelle. "I can tell you've changed, and that you're nothing like your parents. They would've ensured that _toy _of yours was properly disciplined and—"

"That _toy _you're referring to is my student," said Reborn, his expression cold once more. "Seeing how you insulted her, I would say the rude one here is you."

Isabelle recoiled in shock. "Your student?" she said in disbelief. "I'm sorry, seeing she was a girl I didn't—"

"You just assumed she couldn't be a hitman," said Reborn, his emotionless voice barely hiding his disgust. "Just like my parents, you assume a woman is good for nothing other than looking nice and maintaining a family. Things like that sexist state of mind is why I left the confines of that way of life."

Reborn glared at Isabelle. "My student and I have a mission soon, and I would like to leave early to scout the location. Maybe we can talk more some other time, tomorrow maybe."

Isabelle was silent for a few seconds before blurting out four words.

"I love you, Renato."

Reborn's head snapped to the side, as if he had been slapped. When he looked back at Isabelle, his eyes were filled with anger.

"Never call me that ever again," he hissed. "Goodbye, Isabelle." With that, Reborn slammed the door close.

* * *

Reborn let out a shaky breath and sat down. He didn't mean to act so rashly, but that phrase, that phrase was something he had last heard from someone he truly loved. To hear it come out on anyone else's mouth seemed like a mockery to him, an insult to _her _memory.

"Reborn?" said Tsunade from the staircase. Reborn looked up, and suddenly, his breath was taken away.

Tsunade was wearing a red sleeveless gown with slits on the sides to improve her range on motion in an outfit that would normally be constraining. Her hair was carefully pulled back with Jacine posing as a thin hairclip, and her usual combat boots were replaced dainty red heels. She never wore much makeup on a daily basis, but her experience with disguises meant that she had some capability for cosmetics, and the way her eyes were carefully traced with eyeliner and the way her pink lips sparkled with lip gloss proved it.

Tsunade was beautiful.

"Did your fiancée leave?" asked Tsunade as she made her way down the stairs. "Who was she anyway?"

Reborn shook himself out of his daze. "She's just a childhood friend of mine who can't let go of a little crush," he said, dismissing the topic with a wave of his hand. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes to observe the area."

"Oh great, I get to walk more in these torture devices women call shoes," muttered Tsunade. "I honestly can't understand why anyone would purposely try to get blisters on their feet."

"For the sake of beauty, as most women would say," said Reborn, amused. "Those heels you're wearing are worth about one hundred thousand yen."

"One hundred thousand?!" exclaimed Tsunade. "I could buy over 100 of the best throwing knives on the market and still have money to spare!"

"Only you would trade shoes for lethal weapons, dame-Tsunade," replied Reborn.

"I guess you're right," said Tsunade with a sigh. "That's just what makes me unique. I'll go finish up my self-study on Arabic. Tell me when we're about to leave."

As Tsunade walked away, Reborn couldn't help but stare at her, feeling a sharp pain inside of him that he had tried to lock away.

"You _are _unique," he said softly. "You are so different from the rest, and that's why I can't figure you out."

It was odd that they were the exact same ages as they were so long ago. Reborn had been surprised that his accelerated growth stopped when he was twenty, but then Yuni said that the process probably only brought them back to how old they were when they had agreed to become Arcobaleno. For the others, it was when they started the quest, but for Reborn, he had agreed to it much earlier. Therefore, it was just a coincidence that he and Tsunade were now just a year apart, but it made things so much harder for him.

He wasn't really allergic to roses, contrary to what he stated earlier, so why was it that the Black Rose Huntress made him react so oddly? She made his pulse quicken, his heart skip a beat, his brain unable to think rationally. Tsunade was so close, but he had to stay far, far away from her, to keep her safe. He knew what he had to do, so why did he feel jealous when others came near? Why did he feel a spark when she had touched the cut on his cheek? Why did he always feel so strange when she was around?

Why couldn't he be near her without hurting on the inside?

* * *

**A/N: NOW we're talking xD! Things are getting even more interesting now! Thanks to **_**Lite Crystal27**_**, **_**Drika-Veras**_**, and **_**kari**_** for reviewing!**

**Please read and review guys!**


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